The Voyage of Life: Old Age

1842

Thomas Cole

Associated Names
Thomas Cole
Artist, American, 1801 - 1848
A balding, older man sits in a golden boat guided by a winged angel away from craggy rocks to calm waters, toward a shaft of light piercing a billowing bank of clouds in this horizontal landscape painting. The man and angel both have light skin. The man wears a crimson-red tunic and has a fringe of white curls and a long, white beard. He holds his hands up, palms facing out, as he looks toward the light in the upper left corner of the canvas. His golden boat is made up of wings and human bodies facing inward, the rudder and figurehead at the bow broken off. The man glides from low, jagged rocks in the lower right corner onto placid waters. Floating above the man and slightly to our left, the angel has long golden hair, a flowing white tunic, lilac-purple wings, and a bright starburst at the forehead. The angel gestures up to the shaft of light, where another angel has swept down into the cloud bank. Dozens of touches of white paint farther up in the clouds, closer to the light in the top left, suggest more angels descending toward the scene below. Concentric rings of clouds darken from butter yellow in the upper left to pale mauve and muted plum purple across the landscape. The artist signed the painting as if he had inscribed his name and date on a rock near the lower left, “T. Cole 1842.” A second inscription, to the right of center along the lower edge on another rock, reads “Rome.”

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Cole's renowned four-part series traces the journey of an archetypal hero along the "River of Life." Confidently assuming control of his destiny and oblivious to the dangers that await him, the voyager boldly strives to reach an aerial castle, emblematic of the daydreams of "Youth" and its aspirations for glory and fame. As the traveler approaches his goal, the ever-more-turbulent stream deviates from its course and relentlessly carries him toward the next picture in the series, where nature's fury, evil demons, and self-doubt will threaten his very existence. Only prayer, Cole suggests, can save the voyager from a dark and tragic fate.

From the innocence of childhood, to the flush of youthful overconfidence, through the trials and tribulations of middle age, to the hero's triumphant salvation, The Voyage of Life seems intrinsically linked to the Christian doctrine of death and resurrection. Cole's intrepid voyager also may be read as a personification of America, itself at an adolescent stage of development. The artist may have been issuing a dire warning to those caught up in the feverish quest for Manifest Destiny: that unbridled westward expansion and industrialization would have tragic consequences for both man and nature.

More information on this painting can be found in the Gallery publication American Paintings of the Nineteenth Century, Part I, pages 95-108, which is available as a free PDF at https://www.nga.gov/content/dam/ngaweb/research/publications/pdfs/american-paintings-19th-century-part-1.pdf

On View
West Building, Main Floor, Gallery M60
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Artwork overview

  • Medium

    oil on canvas

  • Credit Line

    Ailsa Mellon Bruce Fund

  • Dimensions

    overall: 133.4 x 196.2 cm (52 1/2 x 77 1/4 in.)
    framed: 162.9 x 225.7 x 17.8 cm (64 1/8 x 88 7/8 x 7 in.)

  • Accession Number

    1971.16.4

Artwork history & notes

Provenance

Sold by the artist to George K. Shoenberger [1809-1892], Cincinnati, perhaps as early as 1845 and no later than May 1846;[1] Shoenberger heirs, after 20 January 1892;[2] purchased 1908 by Ernst H. Huenefeld, Cincinnati;[3] gift 1908 to Bethesda Hospital and Deaconess Association of Methodist Church of Cincinnati;[4] sold 17 May 1971 through (Hirschl & Adler Galleries, New York) to NGA.

[1] For a discussion of a possible 1845 date, see Thomas Cole, Exh. cat. Memorial Art Gallery of the University of Rochester, 1969: 35. Other sources place the acquisition a bit later than 1845; see Paul D. Schweizer, "The Voyage of Life: A Chronology," in The Voyage of Life by Thomas Cole, Paintings, Drawings, and Prints, Exh. cat. Museum of Art, Munson-Williams-Proctor Institute, Utica, New York, 1985: 45 ("December 1846?"), and Ellwood C. Parry III, The Art of Thomas Cole: Ambition and Imagination, Newark, Delaware, 1988: 332 ("sometime late in 1846 or, more likely, early in 1847"); however in a Boston Transcript article entitled "The Voyage of Life," which appeared 21 May 1846, the pictures are mentioned as then belonging to "a wealthy gentleman of Cincinnati."

[2] A letter of April 1979 from Mrs. Robert Heuck (in NGA curatorial files) specifies: "Mr. Shoenberger died in 1892, at which time many of the belongings of the home were given to heirs." Shoenberger died 20 January 1892; for additional information, see The Biographical Cyclopaedia and Portrait Gallery with an Historical Sketch of the State of Ohio, 6 vols., Cincinnati, 1895: 6:1457-1458.

[3] Mrs. Robert Heuck, letter of April 1979 (in NGA curatorial files) states: "In 1908 Mr. and Mrs. Ernest W. [sic] Huenefeld purchased the land [and the house and contents]."

[4] Edward H. Dwight and Richard J. Boyle, "Rediscovery: Thomas Cole's 'Voyage of Life'," Art in America 55 (May 1967): 62.

Associated Names

Exhibition History

1842

  • Annual Exhibition of Modern Artists, Piazza del Popolo, Rome, 1842, no cat.

  • Private Exhibition, Luther Terry's studio, Orto di Napoli, Rome, 1842.

1843

  • Second Exhibition, Boston Artists' Association, 1843, no. 4.

  • Pictures by Thomas Cole N.A. ... The Voyage of Life! A Series of Allegorical Pictures, National Academy of Design, New York, 1843-1844, no. 4.

1844

  • Paintings Exhibited..., Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, Philadelphia, 1844, no. 4.

1848

  • Western Art Union, Cincinnati, 1848, no cat.

1854

  • Pictures at the Ladies' Gallery, Cincinnati, 1854, 2 and 5, no. 23, as Old Age.

1983

  • A New World: Masterpieces of American Painting 1760-1910, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston; Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.; Grand Palais, Paris, 1983-1984, no. 28, repro.

1985

  • The Voyage of Life by Thomas Cole, Paintings, Drawings, and Prints, Museum of Art, Munson-Williams-Proctor Institute, Utica, New York, 1985, 4, 5, 28, 30-32, 34-36, 38-40, 42, 44, 45, 48, 53, 66-69, no. 46.

1994

  • Thomas Cole: Landscape into History, National Museum of American Art, Washington, D.C.; Wadsworth Atheneum, Hartford; The Brooklyn Museum, 1994-1995, fig. 118.

1995

  • Loan for display with permanent collection, The Detroit Institute of Arts, 1995-1996.

2000

  • Explorar el Edén: Paisaje Americano del Siglo XIX, Fundación Colección Thyssen-Bornemisza, Madrid, 2000-2001, no. 5, repro.

Bibliography

1843

  • New-York Daily Tribune (18 February 1843): 3.

  • "Dottings on Art and Artists. No. II." New World 6 (25 February 1843): 246.

  • "Cole's Pictures at the National Academy of Design." Anglo American (30 December 1843): 239.

  • "Mr. Cole's Paintings." New-York Daily Tribune (26 December 1843): 2.

1844

  • "Editor's Table." The Knickerbocker 23 (January/February 1844): 97, 196.

  • "Cole's Paintings." New-York Daily Tribune (9 January 1844): 2.

  • P., S.H.J. "To Thomas Cole." New Mirror 2 (27 January 1844): 269.

  • "A Few Words About Mr. Cole's Paintings." New World 8 (17 February 1844): 217.

1847

  • Transactions of the Western Art Union for the Year 1847. Cincinnati, 1847: 25.

1848

  • Whitley, Thomas W. Reflections on the Government of the Western Art Union and a Review of the Works of Art on Its Walls. [Originally published in the Herald of Truth] Cincinnati, 1848: 17-18.

  • Bryant, William Cullen. A Funeral Oration, occasioned by the death of Thomas Cole delivered before the National Academy of Design, New York, May 4, 1848. Philadelphia and New York, 1848: 30.

1849

  • Transactions of the Western Art Union for the Year 1848. Cincinnati, 1849: 10.

  • Lanman, Charles. "The Epic Paintings of Thomas Cole." Southern Library Messenger 15 (June 1849): 353.

1853

  • Noble, Louis Legrand. The Course of Empire, Voyage of Life, and other Pictures of Thomas Cole, N.A.. New York, 1853: 295-298, 301, 309, 312-314, 317, 320-322, 353, 359.

1854

  • "Thomas Cole." National Magazine 4 (April 1854): 318-321.

1855

  • "Sketchings." The Crayon 1 (7 February 1855): 92.

1858

  • "Notes and Gleanings--Cole's Pictures of Life." National Magazine 13 (September 1858): 284-285.

1860

  • Green, George W. Biographical Sketches. New York, 1860: 101, 105, 110-112.

  • "The Artists of America--Taken from New American Cyclopaedia." The Crayon 7 (February 1860): 46.

1865

  • Cummings, Thomas S. Historic Annals of the National Academy of Design (1825-1863). Philadelphia, 1865. Reprint, New York, 1965: 170, 176, 201.

1932

  • Mayer, Frank Blackwell. With Pen and Pencil on the Frontier in 1851: The Diary and Sketches of Frank Blackwell Mayer. Edited by Bertha L. Heilbron. Reprint, Saint Paul, 1932: 41.

1954

  • La Budde, Kenneth James. "The Mind of Thomas Cole." Ph.D. dissertation, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, 1954: 171, 212.

1962

  • Devane, James. "Sightseers Have Visited Scarlet Oaks for 95 Years." Cincinnati Enquirer (20 May 1962): 6A.

1964

  • Noble, Louis Legrand. The Life and Works of Thomas Cole (1853). Edited by Elliot S. Vesell. Cambridge, Massachusetts, 1964: 220-224, 231, 233-235, 237, 239-240, 264.

1967

  • Dwight, Edward H., and Richard J. Boyle. "Rediscovery: Thomas Cole's 'Voyage of Life'." L'Art et les Artistes 55 (May 1967): 60-63.

  • Merritt, Howard S. "Thomas Cole's List, 'Subjects for Pictures.'" In Baltimore Museum of Art, Annual II: Studies on Thomas Cole, an American Romanticist. Baltimore, 1967: 84, 90.

1970

  • Riordan, John. "Thomas Cole: A Case Study of the Painter-Poet Theory ofArt in American Painting from 1825-1850." 2 vols. Ph.D. dissertation, Syracuse University, 1970: 1:99-100; 2:345, 455-497.

1973

  • Wallach, Alan Peter. "The Ideal American Artist and the Dissenting Tradition: A Study of Thomas Cole's Popular Reputation." Ph.D. dissertation, Columbia University, New York, 1973: 70-72, 106.

1976

  • Kurland, Sydney. "The Aesthetic Quest of Thomas Cole and Edgar Allan Poe: Correspondence in their Thought and Practice in Relation to their Time." Ph.D. dissertation, Ohio University, Athens, 1976: 105-109, 172.

1977

  • Wallach, Alan. "The Voyage of Life as Popular Art." The Art Bulletin 59 (1957): 234.

1980

  • American Paintings: An Illustrated Catalogue. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1980: 134, repro.

  • Wilmerding, John. American Masterpieces from the National Gallery of Art. National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., 1980: 11, 14, 88, repro.

  • Coen, Rena N. "Cole, Coleridge and Kubla Khan." Art History 3 (June 1980): 218, 227.

1981

  • Virdis, Caterina Limentani. "Paesaggio e racconto in Edgar Allan Poe." Artibus et Historiae 4 (1981): 90, 94.

  • Williams, William James. A Heritage of American Paintings from the National Gallery of Art. New York, 1981: color repro. 97, 112-13.

1983

  • Schweizer, Paul D. "Another Possible Literary Source for Thomas Cole's Voyage of Life." In "New Discoveries in American Art." Edited by Jayne A. Kuchina. The American Art Journal 15 (1983): 74-75.

1985

  • The Voyage of Life by Thomas Cole, Paintings, Drawings, and Prints. Exh. cat. Museum of Art, Munson-Williams-Proctor Institute, Utica, 1985: 66-69.

1987

  • Wilmerding, John. American Marine Painting. Rev. ed. of A History of American Marine Painting, 1968. New York, 1987: 44, 46, 47, color repro. 42.

  • Sarnoff, Charles A. "The Voyage of Life Had a Life of Its Own." Paper presented to the NGA, January 1987.

1988

  • Parry, Ellwood C., III. The Art of Thomas Cole: Ambition and Imagination. Newark, London, and Toronto, 1988: 218, 228, 265-268, 270-272, 275, 277, 280, 284-285, 291-298, 301-303, 332, 338, 378.

  • Wilmerding, John. American Masterpieces from the National Gallery of Art. Rev. ed. National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., 1988: 11, 17, 102, 103, repro.

1990

  • Powell, Earl A., III. Thomas Cole. New York, 1990: 103.

1991

  • Kopper, Philip. America's National Gallery of Art: A Gift to the Nation. New York, 1991: 263.

  • Wilmerding, John. American Views: Essays on American Art. Princeton, 1991: 56, 67, repro. 57-60.

1992

  • American Paintings: An Illustrated Catalogue. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1992: 146, repro.

1994

  • Truettner, William H., and Alan Wallach. Thomas Cole: Landscape into History. Exh. cat. Natl. Mus. of Am. Art, Wadsworth Atheneum, Hartford; Brooklyn Museum. Washington,1994: 42,46-47,79,82,84,98-101,113,130-133,138,144,149-150,152,154,182, no. 118.

1995

  • Apostolos-Cappadona, Diane. The Spirit and the Vision: The Influence of Christian Romanticism on the Development of 19th-Century American Art. Atlanta, 1995: 137-148, fig. 29.

1996

  • Kelly, Franklin, with Nicolai Cikovsky, Jr., Deborah Chotner, and John Davis. American Paintings of the Nineteenth Century, Part I. The Collections of the National Gallery of Art Systematic Catalogue. Washington, D.C., 1996: 95-108, color repro.

1998

  • Boeckl, Christine M. “Path/Road/Crossroads." In Encyclopedia of Comparative Iconography: Themes Depicted in Works of Art. Edited by Helene E. Roberts. 2 vols. Chicago, 1998: 2:692.

2004

  • Hand, John Oliver. National Gallery of Art: Master Paintings from the Collection. Washington and New York, 2004: 308, 311, no. 250, color repro.

2025

  • " American and British Paintings for the Nation: An Interview with Franklyn Kelly." Art for the Nation 70 (Summer 2025): 7, fig. 5.

Inscriptions

bottom edge, left of center: T. Cole / 1842; bottom edge, right of center: Rome

Wikidata ID

Q19900107

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