Thomas Moran

Thomas Moran is considered by many America's greatest landscape painter.  He worked frequently from sketches and watercolor studies, and was a gifted watercolor painter.  

The Early Years - Fantasy

Trips to the American West resulted in his most popular landscapes.  But prior to his travels, he often worked from fantasy inspired by books and simple imagination - Salvador Rosa and the Brigands, and Children of the Mountain are two examples.

           

Salvador Rosa and the Brigands. 1860. Oil          Autumnal Woods. 1865. Oil         Children of the Mountain. 1867. Oil 

The West

In 1870, the new Northern-Pacific railroad sponsored Moran on an exploratory trip to discover and paint the beautiful scenery of the Grand Canyon.  His paintings had a profound effect on the American public, and on Congress.  Most members of Congress had not seen the beauty of the American West, so Moran brought his watercolor studies and paintings east to Washington.  His great landscapes influenced Congress to preserve Yellowstone, proclaiming it the first national park.

His three great western landscapes - Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone, Chasm of the Colorado, and Mountain of the Holy Cross, which he painted in both oil and watercolor - formed the core of a Philadelphia  exposition.

                   

  Grand Canyon of Yellowstone. 1901. Oil    Mountain of the Holy Cross. 1875. Oil   Chasm of the Colorado. 1874. Oil

 

                         

   Mountain of the Holy Cross. 1894. Watercolor                                               Three Tetons. 1895. Oil

 

Moran's Three Tetons hangs in the Oval Office of the White House.  It was first introduced in 1989 with President George H. Bush.  

                 

Mosquito Trail, Rocky Mtns.  1874. Watercolor   Castle Geyser. 1871. Watercolor    In the Lava Beds. 1892. Watercolor

 

His pencil and watercolor studies laid the groundwork for multiple studio variations of the landscapes that inspired him.    

             

         Shoshone Falls Idaho. 1875. Watercolor                                            Shoshone Falls Snake River. 1890. Oil.  

 

    

                 Green River Cliffs Wyoming. 1881. Oil                       Green River Cliffs Wyoming. Date Unknown. Watercolor

 

Subjects Beyond the West

Moran was a painter with diverse interests.  British painter J.W. Turner inspired him, and he was heavily influenced by his work and technique.  In the early 1880's, he traveled to Britain and Europe visiting places Turner painted.  Turner's paintings of Venice were of particular interest to him.  Moran painted at least 25 different scenes of the Italian harbor.  He also found subjects in Mexico and Cuba.

                               

Lagoon Toward Santa Maria. 1894. Watercolor  View of Venice. 1888. Watercolor       View of Venice. 1895. Watercolor

 

  

     Pass at Glencoe, Scotland. 1882. Watercolor                                         Trojes Mine (Mexico). 1895. Watercolor

 

But he stated that he found the Swiss Alps, and European landscapes in general, somewhat pale in comparison to those in America.  Said Moran: 

"There is no phase of landscape in which we are not richer, more varied and interesting than any country in the world."

 

Long Island Influence

By 1884, Moran's move to the southern shore of Eastern Long Island had a pronounced effect on his landscapes. Seascapes and village scenes became his subjects.    

          Cloudy Day at Amagansett. 1884. Oil          The Much Resounding Sea. 1894. Oil           June East Hampton. 1894. Oil

    

                         

             East Hampton Beach. 1884. Oil                                                     East Hampton Beach. 1884. Watercolor

 

In his later years, Moran returned to his subjects from the American West, revisiting earlier sketch and watercolor studies in the creation of new variations.  Fittingly, it is these landscapes of the American West for which Moran will most closely be associated.

Grand Canyon. 1912. Oil

By Lou Escalante

Bibliography:

http://www.the-athenaeum.org/art/list.php?s=tu&m=a&aid=435&p=4

http://www.nga.gov/feature/moran/early1.shtm

http://www.thomas-moran.org/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Moran

http://hoocher.com/Thomas_Moran/Thomas_Moran.htm