托马斯·科尔作品《生命之旅：暮年》高清图片

作品简介

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.”

在这幅横版风景画中，一位谢顶的老者坐在一艘金色的船里，由一位长着翅膀的天使引领着，驶离嶙峋的礁石，驶向平静的水域，朝着一道穿透滚滚云层的光线而去。老者和天使都有着白皙的皮肤。老者身着一件深红色束腰外衣，留着一圈白色卷发和一把长长的白色胡须。他抬起双手，掌心向外，望向画布左上角的那束光。他乘坐的金色船只由向内的翅膀和人体组成，船头的舵和艏饰已折断。老者从右下角低矮、嶙峋的礁石处滑向平静的水面。天使悬浮在老者上方，略靠我们左侧的位置，有着长长的金色头发、一件飘逸的白色束腰外衣、淡紫色的翅膀，额头还有一团明亮的光晕。天使向上指着那道光线，另有一位天使已俯冲进入云层。在画面上方更靠近左上角光线处的云层中，有数十处白色颜料点，暗示着更多天使正朝着下方的场景飞来。层层云朵的颜色逐渐加深，从左上角的淡黄色过渡到整个画面中的淡紫红色和柔和的深紫色。画家仿佛在左下角附近的一块岩石上题写了自己的名字和日期，画作落款为“T. 科尔 1842 年”。在画面底部边缘中间偏右的另一块岩石上，有第二处题字，写着“罗马”。

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 Lifeseems 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.

科尔著名的四连作系列画作描绘了一位典型英雄在“生命之河”上的旅程。这位旅行者自信地掌控着自己的命运，对前方的危险浑然不觉，大胆地奋力驶向一座空中城堡，这座城堡象征着“青春”的幻想，以及对荣耀和声名的渴望。当旅行者接近目标时，水流变得愈发湍急，河道也偏离了方向，无情地将他带向下一幅画的场景，在那里，大自然的愤怒、邪恶的恶魔和自我怀疑将威胁到他的生存。科尔暗示，唯有祈祷能将这位旅行者从黑暗而悲惨的命运中拯救出来。

从童年的纯真，到青春年少时过度自信的意气风发，再到中年时期的种种考验与磨难，直至英雄最终获得胜利的救赎，《生命的旅程》似乎与基督教的死亡与复活教义有着内在的联系。科尔笔下无畏的旅行者也可以被看作是处于发展初期的美国的化身。画家或许是在向那些陷入“昭昭天命”狂热追求中的人发出严峻的警告：无节制的西进扩张和工业化将给人类和自然带来悲惨的后果。