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Thomas Moran

Thomas Moran studied art with his brother Edward with which he shared a studio. Moran also traveled to London, Paris and Italy to experience more artistic influences. He was definitely the most famous of the Moran artists. During his trip to London in 1862, Moran was highly influenced by J.M.W. Turner's paintings. He returned to Europe later in 1866 where he met with the artist Corot. Moran is most well known for his panoramic oil scenes in the Far Western frontier including Yellowstone, Yosemite and the Grand Canyon. "The Grand Canyon of Yellowstone" (1872) and "Chasm of the Colorado" (1873) were both sold for $10,000 a piece. These paintings encouraged Congress to establish Yellowstone and other areas the National Park System. Moran traveled out West with W.H. Jackson on the Hayden U.S. Geological Survey of Yellowstone in 1871. In fact, Mount Moran is his namesake mountain among the Grand Tentons. Moran made many trips out west until he settled permanently in Santa Barbara, CA in 1916. His paintings reflect his ability to idealize the reality of space with rock formations, plateaus and degrees of moisture and air. Moran made his last trip West in 1923 at the age of 86, just three years before his death.

Biography courtesy of The Caldwell Gallery, www.antiquesandfineart.com/caldwell

Thomas Moran was born in Bolton, Lancashire, England in 1837. His family came to the United States when he was seven; of the seven children, three of his brothers, Edward, John and Peter, became artists of renown. Edward, his older brother, shared a studio with him and served as his teacher.

In Philadelphia, Moran worked for a wood engraver, sketching designs on wood blocks for printing and experimenting, in various media in his spare time. By age 21, Thomas Moran's determination to become an artist was rewarded by his exhibition of an oil painting at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts.

In the 1850's, Moran was introduced to the work of J. M. W. Turner, the noted English landscape artist, by James Hamilton (known as "the American Turner") but Turner's full influence on Moran's work came after the European study trip, taken with his new wife, Mary Nimmo (who later became an etcher of note), and his brother, Edward, in 1862. Moran was greatly impressed with Turner, and French landscape painter, Claude Lorrain.

In 1871 Moran joined the Ferdinand V. Hayden Geological Survey Expedition to Yellowstone Territory and on seeing the magnificent grandeur of the area, his inspiration soared. In 1876, Louis Prang of Boston issued a portfolio of 15 large chromolithograph illustrations by Moran from a report of Hayden's Expedition. Moran lived in Newark, New Jersey in 1872, but New York City eventually became his base until later years. Well established by 1884, he was one of the first artists to build a summer home in East Hampton, a Long Island Resort. Figures were rarely included in his work, however, on a trip to New Mexico, he did paint Indians in their surroundings. Moran lived in Santa Barbara, CA from 1916 until his death in 1926.

Public Collections:
The Thomas Gilcreast Institute
Los Angeles County Museum of Art
The Metropolitan Museum of Art
Milwaukee Art Center Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
National Museum of Art
Newark Museum
Philadelphia Museum
Smithsonian Institute

Biography courtesy of Roughton Galleries, www.antiquesandfineart.com/roughton

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