Thomas Cole, Old Masters Fine Art Print, The Voyage of Life: Manhood
BUY WITH CONFIDENCE
Couldn't load pickup availability
Thomas Cole, Old Masters Fine Art Print, The Voyage of Life: Manhood
Thomas Cole (February 1, 1801 – February 11, 1848) was an English-born American artist known for his landscape and history paintings. He is regarded as the founder of the Hudson River School, an American art movement that flourished in the mid-19th century.
The Voyage of Life is a series of paintings created by Thomas Cole in 1842, representing an allegory of the four stages of human life: childhood, youth, manhood, and old age. The paintings depict a voyager who travels in a boat on a river through the mid-19th-century American wilderness. In each painting the voyager rides the boat on the River of Life accompanied by a guardian angel. The landscape, each reflecting one of the four seasons of the year, plays a major role in conveying the story. With each installment the boat's direction of travel is reversed from the previous picture. In childhood, the infant glides from a dark cave into a rich, green landscape. As a youth, the boy takes control of the boat and aims for a shining castle in the sky. In manhood, the adult relies on prayer and religious faith to sustain him through rough waters and a threatening landscape. Finally, the man becomes old and the angel guides him to heaven across the waters of eternity.
In the third painting, Manhood, the youth has grown into an adult and now faces the trials of life. The boat is damaged and the tiller is gone. The river has become a terrible rush of white water with menacing rocks, dangerous whirlpools, and surging currents. The warm sunlight of youth has been clouded over with dark and stormy skies and torrential rains. The trees have become wind-beaten, gnarled, leafless trunks. The fresh grass is gone, replaced by hard and unforgiving rock.
In the boat, the man no longer displays confidence or even control. The angel appears high in the sky, still watching over the man, who does not see the angel. Man must rely on his faith that the angel is there to help him. Cole states, "Trouble is characteristic of the period of Manhood. In childhood, there is no carking care: in youth, no despairing thought. It is only when experience has taught us the realities of the world, that we lift from our eyes the golden veil of early life; that we feel deep and abiding sorrow: and in the Picture, the gloomy, eclipse-like tone, the conflicting elements, the trees riven by tempest, are the allegory; and the Ocean, dimly seen, figures the end of life, which the Voyager is now approaching."
Within the painting Manhood there is a strong emphasis on the diagonal: in the rocks which jut up, steep and forbidding, and the river which sweeps downward, threatening to carry anything in or on it over the precipitous drop to the twisting and foaming rapids in the mid-ground. The extreme narrowness of the passage between the two rock face heightens the tension as the viewer tries to determine whether or not a small craft could navigate these tumultuous waters. In addition, evil spirits stare down from the dark clouds above.
It is only in the distant background that the viewer captures a glimpse of the horizon. This line, where the distant ocean meets the sunset colored sky, is the only horizontal line in the painting. Amidst the chaos and confusion of the wild scene in the foreground, one catches a glimpse of possible serenity. Cole has positioned this focal point just below and to the right of center. The combination of the lone horizontal and warm color in an otherwise dark and forbidding scene, beckons the viewer's eye back again and again.
The silhouette of a gnarled tree trunk opposes the diagonals of the rocks and river, forcing the eye back into the scene. Here the twisted and rotting trunk is used, as it often is in Cole's work, as a symbol for the savage (untamed) wilderness and all its dangers. The funnel-shaped cloud that appears above the tree leads the eye up into the forbidding clouds of the sky, over the top and to the left, where the downward arc of the clouds forces it back down again into the river.
8x12 inches
12x18 inches
16x24 inches
20x30 inches
24x36 inches
And as a stretched canvas panel (heavy fine art canvas stretched over 1.5 inch deep edge solid wood frame)
Canvas panel sizes:
8x12 inches
16x24 inches
20x30 inches
All prints are made using archival art stocks and UV pigment inks to give up to 200 years life. Prints are sold unframed and unmounted.
Thomas Cole, Old Masters Fine Art Print, The Voyage of Life: Manhood
All orders for unframed fine art prints and original paintings are dispatched within 2 working days of receipt of payment.
Orders for custom framed prints are dispatched within 4 working days.
All orders are fully tracked from dispatch to delivery at your home or business.
All print and original painting orders are fully insured against loss or damage in transit. We refund or replace any damaged or lost orders.
Buy with confidence - read what our satisfied customers have to say - Reviews
Fine art papers are printed without any additional white border Please let us know at the time of ordering if you would like a small additional white border.
Rolled canvas options have an additional white border of approximately 2.5 inches (7cm) on all 4 sides to aid stretching.
Ready to hang canvas panels are stretched on 1.5 inch deep solid pine frames from sustainable forestry sources. The image is mirrored on all 4 sides to give an aesthetically pleasing finish.
Why not have us gift wrap your order and attach a personalised message to the recipient. Available for all orders. Each order is hand wrapped in high quality gift wrap with meatllic ribbon and bow. Your personalised message is printed on a card which is included with your order.
Have your hand wrapped gift delivered directly to the recipient.
Full tracking and insurance included with every order.
Please note design may vary depending upon availability
Just purchase the gift wrap option HERE
We have a wide range of frames in standard sizes and we also make custom size frames.
To order a framed print:
1. select the print size you would like along with the print materials (matte paper, fine art paper).
2. Add your print choice to the basket.
3. Choose from our range of frames
4. Select the same size as the print you have added to your basket. If the frame size you want is not listed please contact us
5. Choose from the mount or no-mount option
6. Add your frame choice to the basket
7. Proceed to checkout.
Why Choose GalleryThane?
- Printed and framed in-house
- Free UK delivery
- Fast international delivery
- Tracking and insurance included in every order
- Fast 1-3 day dispatch
- Gift wrapping service available
- Gallery quality materials
- Sustainable, eco-friendly packaging
- Great customer support
What makes our Prints and Canvas Panels so special
Latest Giclee Printing Technology
We have invested in the latest wide format print technology to produce museum quality giclee prints utilising the highest quality pigment inks to give outstanding colour reproduction.
Museum Quality Archival Fine Art Papers
We print on the finest quality fine art papers with textured, smooth and lustre finishes for prints which last a lifetime.
From aceo miniatures to 40x80 inch large format, every print has our lifetime quality guaranteee.
Solid Wood Frames, Cotton Canvas
All of the wood for our canvas panels and frames is responsibly sourced from manages forests. Our cotton canvas is completely seedless for the highest quality reproduction possible.
Have Your Gift Wrapped
