Way Out West

Thomas Moran, a Hudson River School painter who first came into prominence as an illustrator for Scribner’s Monthly, captured some of the nation’s wildest places. Many of his most famous landscapes were the product of his travels west with the Hayden Geological Survey in 1871. Alongside photographer William Henry Jackson,...

By Susan Froyd

January 9, 2014

Audio By Carbonatix

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Thomas Moran, a Hudson River School painter who first came into prominence as an illustrator for Scribner’s Monthly, captured some of the nation’s wildest places. Many of his most famous landscapes were the product of his travels west with the Hayden Geological Survey in 1871. Alongside photographer William Henry Jackson, he recorded the wonders of what would become Yellowstone National Park for Scribner’s, and his images of the area earned him the nickname Thomas “Yellowstone” Moran. “The Mountains south east of our Camp & on the road to the lake looking toward the Yellowstone Country glorious, & I do not expect to see any finer general view of the Rocky Mountains,” he wrote of the region in his diary.

Some of the earliest of these works were color chromolithographs; fifteen of them, along with numerous sketches and paintings, can now be seen in Thomas Moran’s Yellowstone: A Project for the Nation, a new exhibit opening today on the second floor of the Hamilton Building at the Denver Art Museum, 100 West 14th Avenue Parkway.

The exhibition runs through January 20, and entry is included in museum admission, which ranges from $3 to $13. For more information, go to denverartmuseum.org or call 720-865-5000.
Tuesdays-Sundays. Starts: Oct. 6. Continues through Jan. 20, 2013

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Susan Froyd started writing for Westword as the "Thrills" editor in 1992 and never quite left the fold. These days she still freelances for the paper in addition to walking her dogs, enjoying cheap ethnic food and reading voraciously. Sometimes she writes poetry.

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