Thomas Moran, Painter

Thomas Moran,
Napoleon Sarony, photographer, circa 1890-96.
Evolution of the Conservation Movement, 1850-1920

February 12 marks the birth of painter Thomas Moran (1837-1926). His depictions of Western landscapes inspired Americans to conserve and cherish spectacular wilderness areas as part of their national heritage.

In the summer of 1871, Moran joined the U.S. Geological Survey of the Territories. Headed by Ferdinand V. Hayden, this scientific exploration of lands along the Yellowstone River in northwestern Wyoming and southeastern Montana included a painter and a photographer. Visual documentation not only served to verify textual reports but also stimulated public interest.

The Great Blue Spring of the Lower Geyser Basin, Yellowstone,
chromolithograph of a painting by Thomas Moran,
L. Prang & Co., 1875.
Evolution of the Conservation Movement, 1850-1920

Collaborating closely with William Henry Jackson, the expedition photographer, Moran took extensive notes and made numerous sketches of sulphur fields, hot springs, geysers, waterfalls, and evergreen mountain peaks. Returning East, Hayden carried many of Moran's sketches and Jackson's photographs to Washington, D.C.

These images helped convince Congress to set aside the Yellowstone area as a national park. Legislation establishing the park took effect March 1, 1872. Congress later purchased two of Moran's panoramic landscapes to embellish the U.S. Capitol: The Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone (1872) and The Chasm of the Colorado (1873).

The Tower of Tower Falls, Yellowstone,
chromolithograph of a painting by Thomas Moran,
L. Prang & Co., 1875.
Evolution of the Conservation Movement, 1850-1920

Although Scribner's, Harper's Weekly, and other influential magazines published black-and-white engravings of Moran's art, his paintings of wilderness spectacles attracted the widest acclaim. Between 1873 and 1875, Thomas "Yellowstone" Moran created a series of watercolors published as chromolithographs by L. Prang and Company. Louis Prang was a pioneer in the full-color reproduction of American art; his chromolithographs of Moran's paintings added a new dimension to public appreciation of Western scenic beauty.

Moran was less interested in exactly replicating the marvels of nature than in capturing their overall impression on the human spirit. In this, he was deeply influenced by British art critic John Ruskin and painter J.M.W. Turner, whose works he copied and studied in his youth.

• View additional chromolithographs of the artist's work. Search the collection Evolution of the Conservation Movement, 1850-1920 on Thomas Moran. Search on Hayden or Jackson to examine photographs from the U.S. Geological Survey of the Territories.
• See the Documentary Chronology of Selected Events in the Development of the American Conservation Movement, 1847-1920 for an overview of the U.S. conservation movement. To learn more about the United States Geological Survey of the Territories, see the year 1871.
• Read Today in History features on John Muir, Henry David Thoreau, Frederick Law Olmsted, the Yosemite Land Grant, and Earth Day for additional insight into the history of American conservation efforts.
• Catch a glimpse of nineteenth-century tourism. Early films Tourists Going Round Yellowstone Park (1899) and Coaches Arriving at Mammoth Hot Springs (1899) are available for viewing through Inventing Entertainment: The Motion Pictures and Sound Recordings of the Edison Companies.
• Visit the National Park Service online exhibit American Visionaries: Thomas Moran, part of a series highlighting the lives of Americans who contributed to the life, culture, and history of the United States of America.

Brush Burning,
photograph of a painting by Edward Moran, circa 1900-1912.
Touring Turn-of-the-Century America, 1880-1920

Two of Moran's brothers also were painters. Edward, known mostly for his maritime paintings, was Thomas's principal mentor. This photograph of a painting relies on yellow and brown hues similar to those in Thomas Moran's Western landscapes.