1846-1852: The Final Years

Vanderlyns' remaining years were lonely ones. The $12,000 commission he had received for The Landing of Columbus was quickly spent. Attempts to sell his landscapes and historical paintings met with additional failure. The American public, which had never fully understood the neo-classical tradition, had now focused its attention on romantic landscapes. As he had so many times throughout his life, Vanderlyn turned to portraiture to support himself. The works completed during this period, however, do not reflect his earlier competence.

Cleopatra Oil on canvas. 1850

In 1850, the public's consistent disinterest in his works encouraged Vanderlyn to hire Robert Gosman, a writer from Kingston, to produce a sympathetic biography. Vanderlyn hoped that such a portrayal would enable him to demand higher prices for his works. The piece, however, was not to be published before Vanderlyn's death.

Between 1850 and 1852, many of Vanderlyn's letters refer to his desire to establish a National Gallery in Washington, D.C. In August of 1852, he asked the Senate for an appropriation of public land and to construct a building to serve as a gallery and an art school. This request was not granted.

The following month, Vanderlyn returned to Kingston in such an impoverished state that he had to borrow a shilling to pay for his luggage's transport from the steamboat landing to the inn where he had arranged for his lodging. He died alone in these rented quarters on September 26, 1852. He was in his seventy-seventh year.

The influence of the French school had encouraged Vanderlyn to explore subjects other than portraits. Although figure, narrative, and historical painting were of limited interest to the American public, they remained Vanderlyn's focus throughout his career. It was not until the 20th century that studies of Vanderlyn's life and works permitted us to understand his accomplishments and to give him his proper place in the history of art in the United States.

Today, his works are on permanent display in many American museums. The Landing of Columbus can be seen in the Capitol Rotunda in Washington, D.C. The Panoramic View of the Palace and Gardens of Versailles , once the centerpiece of New York City's first museum of art, was installed in 1988 in the American Wing of the Metropolitan Museum of Art. The largest collection of Vanderlyn's works, however, is exhibited at the Senate House State Historic Site in Kingston.