Blog

We artists rack our brains trying to figure out the perfect artistic composition. What will appeal to the masses? What colors should we use, warm or cool? What subjects should we paint, landscapes, wildlife, still life, and so on? What style should we choose: realism, impressionism, abstract? What format should we paint in: landscape, portrait, or something more exotic?

 

The point is that there are a million little and big choices that go into creating a work of art. Those repeated choices eventually become known as our artistic style. Artistic style is as diverse as human personality, but the one thing we all have in common is the desire to excel at creating art and to be recognized for it.

 

Sometimes that recognition comes like a lightning bolt. Sometimes it comes slowly and methodically. Sometimes, unfortunately, it never comes at all.

 

With all this in mind, here is my story of art inspiration, history, and the creation of America's national parks, a story about one artist's lightning strike of fame and fortune.

 

Recently, I was talking with my friend Jimmy Anderson, who moved to Boise, Idaho, about a year and a half ago. Jimmy asked me, "Do you know who Thomas Moran is?" I replied, "Sure I do. He was one of the Hudson River School artists." Jimmy wasn't familiar with the Hudson River School, but he went on to tell me how much he admired a Moran painting he had seen that was coming up for auction. The estimate was $50,000. Jimmy thought that sounded like a lot of money, and it is, but I explained that it was probably inexpensive by Thomas Moran standards. In fact, two other Moran works I had seen offered for auction that year carried estimates of $3.5 million and $17 million respectively, and would likely sell for even more.

 

I went on to tell Jimmy how Thomas Moran was one of my favorite artists. Moran was born in England and immigrated to the United States with his family as a child in search of greater opportunity. Like many immigrants, he arrived with no guarantee of success. He apprenticed as a wood engraver in Philadelphia and spent years struggling to establish himself as an artist. Although immensely talented, he received little public recognition during the early years of his career, surviving on small commissions and illustration work while sharing a studio with his brother Edward Moran, a noted marine artist.

 

Moran returned to England only once, in 1862, to study the watercolor paintings of J. M. W. Turner, whose use of color and atmosphere would have a profound influence on his work. Few could have imagined that this English immigrant would eventually become one of the most influential painters in American history, helping shape how Americans viewed the western frontier and inspiring the preservation of some of its greatest natural treasures.

 

Thomas Moran became chief illustrator for Scribner's Monthly in the late 1860s, a position that marked a turning point in his career. In 1871, he was invited to join an expedition to the Yellowstone region led by Dr. Ferdinand Hayden of the U.S. Geological Survey. At the request of financier Jay Cooke, Hayden received a letter introducing Moran as "an artist of Philadelphia of rare genius."

 

As an artist, I can hardly imagine a greater compliment.

 

It should be noted that Jay Cooke was one of the most influential financiers in the United States at the time. He helped finance the Union during the Civil War and was closely associated with the Northern Pacific Railroad. With funding support from Cooke and Scribner's Monthly, Moran agreed to join the Yellowstone expedition. Also joining the expedition was William Henry Jackson, an early photographer whose images would become just as important to the story that followed.

 

Moran and Jackson were tasked with creating a written and visual journal of a forty-day journey into the largely unknown Yellowstone wilderness. The two men worked closely together, often traveling beyond the main party to sketch, photograph, and document remarkable landscapes. According to Moran's journal, they frequently helped one another carry equipment and navigate difficult terrain.

Moran documented more than thirty Yellowstone locations during the expedition. His sketches and paintings, along with Jackson's photographs, introduced much of the American public to the dramatic beauty of the American West.

 

Upon returning home, Moran painted what would become one of his greatest masterpieces, Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone. The painting captured the Lower Falls and the brilliantly colored canyon walls that helped give Yellowstone its name. Two small figures in the foreground are believed to represent Moran and Jackson, standing witness to a landscape that would soon become world famous.

The viewpoint depicted in the painting is now known as Artist Point in Yellowstone National Park. Moran was reportedly so captivated by the location that he spent extensive time sketching and studying the changing light before being persuaded to continue the expedition.

Measuring approximately seven feet by twelve feet, the painting was monumental in size and ambition. Exhibited in New York in 1872, it captured national attention and was later purchased by the United States Congress for $10,000. The acquisition was a historic milestone for American art and helped cement Moran's reputation as a leading painter of the American West. Today the painting resides in the Smithsonian American Art Museum's Renwick Gallery in Washington, D.C.

 

I explained to Jimmy that this was Thomas Moran's true "lightning strike" moment.

 

Moran's paintings, his Yellowstone illustrations published in Scribner's Monthly, and William Henry Jackson's photographs captured the imagination of both the public and members of Congress. Their work provided some of the first widely distributed visual evidence of Yellowstone's extraordinary beauty and helped inspire Congress to preserve the region as Yellowstone National Park in 1872.

In many ways, the images created by Moran and Jackson helped spark a broader conservation movement in the United States. While the National Park Service would not be established until 1916, their work helped lay an important foundation for the idea that America's most spectacular landscapes should be protected and preserved for future generations.

 

Moran's impact on Yellowstone was significant, but Yellowstone also had a profound impact on Moran. His first major financial success came as a direct result of the expedition, and the region continued to influence his artwork for the rest of his life. He produced many additional paintings of Yellowstone and the American West and even adopted the initials "TYM" for Thomas "Yellowstone" Moran, reflecting the connection he felt to the landscape that transformed his career.

 

Like Moran, other artists, including Albert Bierstadt, also played important roles in shaping public appreciation for America's natural wonders. Before color photography became widely available, paintings and prints were often the only way most people could experience these distant landscapes. These artists did more than document the American West; they helped define how the nation imagined it.

 

Like my artistic predecessors, I too have enjoyed the splendor of many of our national parks. Having visited and spent time in many of the major parks throughout the United States and Canada, I can honestly say they are truly magical places deserving of preservation.

I have spent many years creating a collection of paintings inspired by the national parks of the United States and Canada. I hope to complete this collection one day and perhaps see it exhibited or used in support of conservation and preservation efforts.

The painting attached to this blog is one of those works, depicting the northern Tetons and Jackson Lake. The mountain in the center of the painting is Mount Moran, named in honor of Thomas Moran himself.

 

It remains remarkable that an immigrant artist from England helped inspire the preservation of some of America's most cherished landscapes. Through his talent, vision, and determination, Thomas Moran increased public appreciation of the American West and helped leave a conservation legacy that millions of visitors continue to enjoy today.

 

Thanks for reading my blog, and Jimmy, if you buy that Moran painting, I will happily fly to Idaho to see both it and you.

 

Hopefully, your lightning bolt will strike, and so will mine.

Best Regards,

Patrick Faile