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Cole actually painted two sets. The first, commissioned by banker and philanthropist Samuel Ward, Sr., the father of Julia Ward Howe, and completed in 1840, is in the collection of the Munson-Williams-Proctor Museum in Utica, New York. The second, 1841–1842, is in the collection of the National Gallery in Washington. In 1848, the American Art-Union, a subscription society that distributed paintings and prints to its members, purchased the Ward series and offered it as the prize in its annual lottery. In December of that year, subscriber J. Taylor Brodt won the four paintings. At the same time, the Art-Union commissioned James Smillie to make an engraving after the second image in the series, Youth. [1] Smillie, a native of Edinburgh, Scotland, was already an accomplished engraver when he settled in New York in 1828. He was made a full member of the National Academy of Design in 1852, and worked closely with the Art-Union to reproduce the paintings that the organization distributed to its membership.
In 1849, the Reverend Gorham D. Abbott purchased Brodt’s series and installed it in the Spingler Institute, a school for girls in New York City. That year, the Bulletin of the American Art-Union printed the following notice:
The [Spingler] Institute is an establishment of the highest class, for the education of young ladies, and these pictures are to be among the permanent decorations of its walls. It is with great satisfaction that we chronicle this act of wise liberality and enlightened taste. No where could there be found a more appropriate location than this for these works, which united so much purity of sentiment with so much artistic merit. We hope that other institutions of education will see the importance of calling into their service the ministrations of the Fine Art, to assist in informing the minds, and elevating the affections of their pupils, as well as to refine their tastes. [2]
In 1853, Abbott commissioned Smillie to produce a complete set of engravings of all four paintings, each bearing the words “From the original Painting by Thomas Cole in the possession of Rev. Gorham D. Abbott, Spingler Institute, New York.” The engravings were completed between 1853 and 1856, and a poetic inscription accompanied each one. [3]
The landscape in the scene representing Manhood has altered dramatically. The gentle stream depicted in Childhood is now a treacherous rapid which plunges down into a dangerous cataract. The landscape is marked by blasted trees and craggy rocks. The sky, peaceful and glowing in the first two scenes, now roils with clouds. Through a break in the clouds, the viewer sees the guardian angel, keeping watch but powerless to help unless called. The youth’s quest for glory has led him astray, causing him to turn his back on the path of righteousness, and sinister forms lurk in the clouds. In the boat, the man, now bearded, looks toward heaven and clasps his hands together as he pleads for mercy. Even the carved figures on the boat wear fearful expressions.
The engraved version of Manhood bears this inscription:
Through darkening rains, and threatening storms,
The shattered bark doth ride.
O save the Voyager from the wreck,
Of sins devouring ride.
When by the dreaded tempest home,
High on the broken wave
We know, Thou art not slow to hear
Not impotent to save.
The production of the engravings enabled wide distribution of the images throughout the country. The series thus became an iconic and beloved allegory of man’s troubled, but ultimately redemptive, earthly experience.
Notes:
[1] Paul D. Schweizer, director of the Munson-Williams-Proctor Museum, includes these details in his chronology of the production of The Voyage of Life, http://www.tfaoi.com/aa/2aa/2aa612e.htm
[2] Bulletin of the American Art Union. New York, 1849.
[3] Schweizer, http://www.tfaoi.com/aa/2aa/2aa612e.htm
ProvenanceTo 1983
Barbara B. Millhouse, New York, NY and Winston-Salem, NC [1]
From 1983
Reynolda House Museum of American Art, Winston-Salem, NC, given by Barbara B. Millhouse on December 29, 1983. [2]
Notes:
[1] Deed of Gift, object file.
[2] See note 1.
Exhibition History2010
Thomas Cole's Voyage of Life Series: Prints from the Reynolda Collection
Reynolda House Museum of American Art, Winston-Salem, NC (9/11/2010–2/20/2010)
2017
Samuel F.B. Morse's Gallery of the Louvre and the Art of Invention
Reynolda House Museum of American Art (02/17/2017 - 06/04/2017)
2021
The Voyage of Life: Art, Allegory, and Community Response
Reynolda House Museum of American Art (7/16/2021 - 12/12/2021)
Published References
DepartmentAmerican Art
Voyage of Life: Manhood
Artist(after)
Thomas Cole
(1801 - 1848)
Date1854-1856
Mediumengraving
DimensionsFrame: 26 1/8 x 32 1/8 in. (66.4 x 81.6 cm)
Paper: 19 7/8 x 26 3/16 in. (50.5 x 66.5 cm)
Image (with text): 17 1/8 x 23 1/4 in. (43.5 x 59.1 cm)
Signed<unsigned>
Credit LineGift of Barbara B. Millhouse
CopyrightPublic domain
Object number1983.2.39.c
DescriptionIn Thomas Cole’s four-part The Voyage of Life, 1840, a river voyage symbolizes man’s journey through the stages of life. The series begins with an image of a child in a small boat guided by an angelic figure, then follows the character through youth, manhood, and old age as he attempts to navigate life’s treacherous waters.Cole actually painted two sets. The first, commissioned by banker and philanthropist Samuel Ward, Sr., the father of Julia Ward Howe, and completed in 1840, is in the collection of the Munson-Williams-Proctor Museum in Utica, New York. The second, 1841–1842, is in the collection of the National Gallery in Washington. In 1848, the American Art-Union, a subscription society that distributed paintings and prints to its members, purchased the Ward series and offered it as the prize in its annual lottery. In December of that year, subscriber J. Taylor Brodt won the four paintings. At the same time, the Art-Union commissioned James Smillie to make an engraving after the second image in the series, Youth. [1] Smillie, a native of Edinburgh, Scotland, was already an accomplished engraver when he settled in New York in 1828. He was made a full member of the National Academy of Design in 1852, and worked closely with the Art-Union to reproduce the paintings that the organization distributed to its membership.
In 1849, the Reverend Gorham D. Abbott purchased Brodt’s series and installed it in the Spingler Institute, a school for girls in New York City. That year, the Bulletin of the American Art-Union printed the following notice:
The [Spingler] Institute is an establishment of the highest class, for the education of young ladies, and these pictures are to be among the permanent decorations of its walls. It is with great satisfaction that we chronicle this act of wise liberality and enlightened taste. No where could there be found a more appropriate location than this for these works, which united so much purity of sentiment with so much artistic merit. We hope that other institutions of education will see the importance of calling into their service the ministrations of the Fine Art, to assist in informing the minds, and elevating the affections of their pupils, as well as to refine their tastes. [2]
In 1853, Abbott commissioned Smillie to produce a complete set of engravings of all four paintings, each bearing the words “From the original Painting by Thomas Cole in the possession of Rev. Gorham D. Abbott, Spingler Institute, New York.” The engravings were completed between 1853 and 1856, and a poetic inscription accompanied each one. [3]
The landscape in the scene representing Manhood has altered dramatically. The gentle stream depicted in Childhood is now a treacherous rapid which plunges down into a dangerous cataract. The landscape is marked by blasted trees and craggy rocks. The sky, peaceful and glowing in the first two scenes, now roils with clouds. Through a break in the clouds, the viewer sees the guardian angel, keeping watch but powerless to help unless called. The youth’s quest for glory has led him astray, causing him to turn his back on the path of righteousness, and sinister forms lurk in the clouds. In the boat, the man, now bearded, looks toward heaven and clasps his hands together as he pleads for mercy. Even the carved figures on the boat wear fearful expressions.
The engraved version of Manhood bears this inscription:
Through darkening rains, and threatening storms,
The shattered bark doth ride.
O save the Voyager from the wreck,
Of sins devouring ride.
When by the dreaded tempest home,
High on the broken wave
We know, Thou art not slow to hear
Not impotent to save.
The production of the engravings enabled wide distribution of the images throughout the country. The series thus became an iconic and beloved allegory of man’s troubled, but ultimately redemptive, earthly experience.
Notes:
[1] Paul D. Schweizer, director of the Munson-Williams-Proctor Museum, includes these details in his chronology of the production of The Voyage of Life, http://www.tfaoi.com/aa/2aa/2aa612e.htm
[2] Bulletin of the American Art Union. New York, 1849.
[3] Schweizer, http://www.tfaoi.com/aa/2aa/2aa612e.htm
ProvenanceTo 1983
Barbara B. Millhouse, New York, NY and Winston-Salem, NC [1]
From 1983
Reynolda House Museum of American Art, Winston-Salem, NC, given by Barbara B. Millhouse on December 29, 1983. [2]
Notes:
[1] Deed of Gift, object file.
[2] See note 1.
Exhibition History2010
Thomas Cole's Voyage of Life Series: Prints from the Reynolda Collection
Reynolda House Museum of American Art, Winston-Salem, NC (9/11/2010–2/20/2010)
2017
Samuel F.B. Morse's Gallery of the Louvre and the Art of Invention
Reynolda House Museum of American Art (02/17/2017 - 06/04/2017)
2021
The Voyage of Life: Art, Allegory, and Community Response
Reynolda House Museum of American Art (7/16/2021 - 12/12/2021)
Published References
Status
Not on view