author

Louis Legrand Noble

1813–1882

Best known as the pastor, friend, and biographer of Hudson River School painter Thomas Cole, this 19th-century writer brought art, travel, and devotion together on the page. His books range from poems to vivid firsthand travel writing, including an Arctic voyage that still feels adventurous.

1 Audiobook

After Icebergs with a Painter

After Icebergs with a Painter

by Louis Legrand Noble

About the author

Born in New York in 1813, Louis Legrand Noble was an Episcopal clergyman who became closely connected with the artists gathered around Catskill and the Hudson River School. Sources consistently describe him as Thomas Cole’s friend, pastor, and one of the most important early writers on Cole’s life and work.

Noble is best remembered for The Life and Works of Thomas Cole (1853), a book that helped preserve Cole’s legacy and remained a key source for later biographical writing about the artist. He also published poetry, including Ne-Ma-Min and The Lady Angeline, showing a literary side that went beyond his church work.

Another of his notable books, After Icebergs with a Painter, grew out of a summer voyage in the North Atlantic and is still valued for its lively blend of travel narrative, observation, and art-world history. He died in 1882.