From his earliest sketches as an untutored young man wandering the byways of Ohio around 1820, it’s clear that Cole’s eye was entranced by the riches of a still-unspoiled nature. The more his painterly skill developed, the greater his attention to detail in the scenes before him: from beginning to end, the pictures are filled with ecstatic, finely observed renderings of the small and the grand, grasses, flowers, trees, rivers, gorges, mountains, clouds.

The later work often has an added layer of narrative but the foundation of every painting is always that complete immersion in the tangled, untamed wonders of the new American landscape.

In reproduction it is generally the narrative that dominates, simply because that’s what the eye sees first. But standing before even the most manipulative of the story canvases, the viewer does not first see the story. Rather, Cole's brush seduces the viewer, saying only, "Look." He is thus, one assumes, reproducing for our benefit the irresistibly seductive effect that the original American landscape had on him.

Though he had no art training until he was in his 20s, the talent developed rapidly. Sufficient fame and money came his way that he was able to settle in the 1830s in the village of Catskill, a hundred miles up the Hudson from New York City.

There in 1839 and 1840 he completed the first of his narrative series, four pictures called The Voyage of Life (Youth, Childhood, Manhood, Old Age).

Done on commission, the finished works generated a disagreement with the owner about a public exhibition. In 1842 when Cole was in Rome he did a second version of the series which on his return to America was shown to acclaim.***

The Voyage of Life has often been abused by those skilled at that devious exercise in language which we might call "Artspeak." From early dismissals ("naïve," "sentimental") to later slaps ("escapist," "patriarchal"), critics have generally not treated Cole kindly.

No matter, really. The work speaks for itself clearly and powerfully. Yes, the narrative overlay can be a problem—for us, but not for Cole. That the wild American landscape implied more than many of us today can see, should perhaps give us pause. Maybe the problem is not in Cole’s paintings but in our own jaded vision.

Thomas Cole saw what was before him, and knew it was a unique treasure, about which he wrote presciently in the "Essay on American Scenery" (1835):

"The beauty of such landscapes are quickly passing away—the ravages of the ax are daily increasing—the most noble scenes are made desolate, and often times with a wantonness and barbarism scarcely credible in a civilized nation... Nature has spread for us a rich and delightful banquet. Shall we turn from it?"

Shall we, indeed.

So, in digital reproductions here are the four pictures of The Voyage of Life.

Note: When you go to the slide show page, please allow time for it to load.
The show will go through the sequence of four paintings three times,
showing each picture longer each time through.
The total time for the slide show and music is 8:30.

Go to Voyage of Life Slide Show >>

Thomas Cole links:
The paintings are scattered about the Internet. A good place to start is:
http://artcyclopedia.com/artists/cole_thomas.html

For a good brief biography see
the Thomas Cole National Historic site (Catskill, NY):
http://www.thomascole.org/biography.html

William Cullen Bryant’s funeral oration for Thomas Cole:
http://www.catskillarchive.com/cole/wcb.htm