Thomas Moran Biography
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Thomas Moran is rightly considered one of the finest western
artists. The beautiful and colorful paintings and pictures Thomas Moran
produced bring out the color and the vastness of the American West. The
pictures by Thomas Moran of the Yellowstone region, in particular, are
known worldwide and were also partially responsible for helping to create
Yellowstone National Park.
Thomas Moran was born in England in 1837. He moved to Philadelphia at
the age of seven with his parents. He began an apprenticeship in wood
carving at the age of 15, where he discovered a skill in drawing. This
led him to start creating and marketing small watercolors.
Several years later, Thomas Moran began to experiment with various media,
creating sketches, lithographs, etchings as well as paintings. He was
in particular fascinated with color and always sought new ways to work
color into his paintings and other works of art.
Thomas Moran first became interested in the west due to the stories
of the Yellowstone region in Montana and Wyoming. The stories of the
geysers and hot springs were particularly fascinating to him. He contributed
illustrations for an article by Scribners magazine, The Wonders of Yellowstone,
helping to portray the beauty of the Yellowstone region that explorers
had seen. What was unique about this is that Thomas Moran had yet to
visit the Yellowstone region! He worked entirely off the notes of explorers
and the sketches the explorers had made.
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| Nearing Camp on the Upper Colorado River |
| Thomas Moran |
| 39x19 Fine Art Print |
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Due to his illustrations, by default, Thomas Moran became the first
artist to be associated with portraying the Yellowstone region. Not surprisingly,
after all of these illustrations, he wanted to see the region first hand.
In 1871, Thomas Moran joined a Geological Survey expedition to Yellowstone
as a guest artist.
During this trip to the Yellowstone region, Thomas Moran created an
extensive amount of sketches. He would use these sketches, along with
photographs taken by a traveling photographer on the party, to create
some of the most beautiful paintings of Yellowstone ever made.
With his return back East, Thomas Moran painted many paintings of what
he had seen. His paintings of the Yellowstone region, combined with public
support and articles in the press, were largely responsible for the creation
of Yellowstone National Park. The paintings by Thomas Moran went along
way towards convincing Congress of the beauty and uniqueness of Yellowstone
National Park.
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| Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone |
| Thomas Moran |
| 39x28 Fine Art Print |
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The paintings by Thomas Moran were so successful that he soon went back
out west to make more sketches and pictures, this time traveling to Yosemite
and Utah. He then went to Arizona and the Grand Canyon. Thomas Moran
was particularly intrigued by the colorful rock formations found in the
Grand Canyon, and his paintings of the Grand Canyon reflect this.
Thomas Moran then went to Colorado in 1874, where he created sketches that
would become some beautiful paintings of Colorado, including the large
and well-known painting, Mountain of the Holy Cross, Colorado.
Thomas Moran continued to produce sketches and colorful paintings of
the American West up until his death in 1924. He is most remembered for
his vivid colorful paintings of the west, the Yellowstone region, and
his fine detail on various rock formations.
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