Antique Thomas Moran Grand Canyon Polychrome Print in Original Frame

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Fantastic polychrome print of Hudson Valley School Thomas Moran oil painting of the Grand Canyon made tonalist over time. Gorgeous … Read more Fantastic polychrome print of Hudson Valley School Thomas Moran oil painting of the Grand Canyon made tonalist over time. Gorgeous patina and presence would suit a variety of settings and would be terrific in a boy’s bedroom or mountain home.

On board in original gold-painted wood frame showing graining with brass name plate stating title and artist.

A very rare piece. Thank you for looking and please let me know if you have any questions.

Part of the Rocky Mountain painters, Thomas Moran's vision of the Western landscape was critical to the creation of Yellowstone National Park. In 1871, Ferdinand Vandeever Hayden, director of the United States Geological Survey, invited Moran, at the request of American financier Jay Cooke, to join Hayden and his expedition team into the unknown Yellowstone region. Hayden was just about to embark on his arduous journey when he received a letter from Cooke presenting Moran as "an artist of Philadelphia of rare genius". Funded by Cooke (the director of the Northern Pacific Railroad), and Scribner's Monthly, a new illustrated magazine, Moran agreed to join the survey team of the Hayden Geological Survey of 1871 in their exploration of the Yellowstone region. During forty days in the wilderness area, Moran visually documented over 30 different sites and produced a diary of the expedition's progress and daily activities. His sketches, along with photographs produced by survey member William Henry Jackson, captured the nation's attention and helped inspire Congress to establish the Yellowstone region as the first national park in 1872. Moran's paintings along with Jackson's photographs revealed the scale and splendor of the beautiful Yellowstone region where written or oral descriptions failed, persuading President Grant and the US Congress that Yellowstone was to be preserved. Moran's impact on Yellowstone was great, but Yellowstone had a significant influence on the artist, too. His first national recognition as an artist, as well as his first large financial success, resulted from his connection with Yellowstone. He even adopted a new signature: T-Y-M, Thomas "Yellowstone" Moran. Just one year after his introduction to the area, Moran captured the imagination of the American public with his first enormous painting of a far-western natural wonder, The Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone, which the government purchased in 1872 for $10,000. For the next two decades, he published his work in various periodicals and created hundreds of large paintings. Among these, The Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone (1872) and Chasm of the Colorado (1873–74) are exhibited at the Department of the Interior Museum. See less