A dramatic thunderstorm sweeps across the left side of the canvas, casting deep shadows over dense green forest and jagged tree stumps in the foreground. A broken, weathered tree trunk leans at the lower left, its bark rough and splintered, while other fallen branches and rocks are scattered among the ferns and undergrowth. The sky above is divided: dark, swirling storm clouds dominate the upper left, while sunlight breaks through on the right, illuminating a vast, cultivated valley.

The Connecticut River curves in a broad oxbow through the middle distance, its reflective surface winding between fields and clusters of trees. Beyond the river, the land opens into a patchwork of farmland, dotted with small trees and bordered by gentle hills under a tranquil, pale blue sky. The composition moves from wild, untamed nature in the foreground to orderly, settled land in the distance, with the transition marked by the shifting light and weather.

Fine, controlled brushwork captures the textures of foliage, rock, and cloud, while subtle gradations of color evoke the changing atmosphere from stormy gray to golden sunlight. The far right edge of the canvas is bordered by a dark, wooded hill that curves gently upward. Sunlight falls strongly on the patchwork fields and the oxbow's inner curve, creating a golden effect that contrasts with the stormy left side. View from Mount Holyoke, Northampton, Massachusetts, after a Thunderstorm—The Oxbow was painted by Thomas Cole in 1836.

The Metropolitan Museum of Art notes that the painting was a gift from Mrs. Russell Sage in 1908 and is currently on view in gallery 759.