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Lot Essay
In the late nineteenth century, stories and images from the distant American West captivated the public’s imagination. Henry Wadsworth Longfellow's epic poem, Song of Hiawatha, published in 1855 had much the same effect that James Fenimore Cooper's The Last of the Mohicans engendered in an earlier generation. Since his first trip West and the subsequent establishment of Yellowstone National Park, as well as the dissemination of related published materials, Thomas Moran’s imagery of the unique and mystical natural wonders of the region furthered popular fascination with this relatively new land. Chief among his grand subjects were the remarkable cliffs found surrounding the railroad depot of Green River, Wyoming. Like Yellowstone, Moran’s images of this subject would become virtually synonymous with the American fantasy of the West.
The Union Pacific Railroad first steamed into Green River, Wyoming territory in July 1868. Among the travelers taking advantage of this new line, Thomas Moran first travelled to the West in 1871, arriving in Green River City via rail on his way to join Dr. Ferdinand V. Hayden and his surveying expedition of Yellowstone, Wyoming Territory. Upon disembarking from the train, Moran was greeted by an unexpectedly grand panorama and was immediately in awe of its natural beauty. He stayed briefly in Green River City before setting off for Yellowstone, but not before making several small-scale field sketches with assiduous notations. Indeed, Moran’s First Sketch Made in the West at Green River, Wyoming (1871, Gilcrease Museum, Tulsa, Oklahoma) captures the river, its towering cliffs and their reflection, and he would adapt such quick onsite depictions into larger-scale works back in his New York studio.
The Green River became one of the artist’s favorite Western subjects—one that became quintessentially Moran’s—and inspired some of the most majestic and iconic images in the visual history of the American West, including the present masterwork, Afterglow, Green River, Wyoming. Nancy Anderson explains, "Unlike Yellowstone, the landscape of Green River had not been 'previewed' for eastern viewers through illustrations published in Scribner's. The multicolored, castellated buttes were an entirely fresh subject for paintings. Moran made the most of this opportunity, claiming the landscape as his own through a series of paintings completed over a period of forty years." (Thomas Moran, Washington, D.C., 1997, p. 49) Today Moran’s Green River images are considered cornerstones of his output, with examples located in the White House Historical Association, Washington, D.C.; National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.; Amon Carter Museum of American Art, Fort Worth, Texas; Dallas Museum of Art, Texas and the Tacoma Art Museum, Washington.
As in Moran’s best paintings of the subject, Afterglow, Green River Wyoming spectacularly captures the domineering silhouette of the most prominent formation within the area’s diverse geological formations. In brilliant tones of yellow, orange, green and blue, Moran skillfully depicts the textures in the scene, using a variegated paint surface to convey the butte’s rough sandstone façade. Echoing the warm landforms, the sky is a diversified palette of clouds and sun which further highlights the majesty of the landscape. Together with the cliffs in the distance, the river leads the viewer through the landscape, from the lush foliage at left to the brilliant blue river at right. The unique reflection of the towering canyon in the water echoes the majesty of the surrounding landscape.
Moran’s artistic editing enhances the potency of the present work’s composition, captivating the audience with the West’s natural majesty. In reality, Green River City was burgeoning with people and industry, and the landscape was becoming scarred by train tracks, buildings and bridges. Moran, however, chose to exclude these elements from Afterglow, Green River Wyoming and limit human presence to only a small group of explorers at center right. The figures both indicate the monumental scale of the majestic landforms and imbue the work with the romantic nostalgia of the untamed New World. Anderson writes, “For Moran, neither the railroad nor the burgeoning town that had sprung to life beside the railroad tracks threatened the vast and awesome grandeur of the landscape, for in his art he was free to edit and invent, preserving on canvas the mythic landscape endowed by history with symbolic as well as economic value.” (“The Kiss of Enterprise: The Western Landscape as Symbol and Resource,” in Reading American Art, New Haven, Connecticut, 1998, p. 215) Moran’s depictions of Green River, regardless of scale, were always of a pristine, magisterial wilderness imbued with the spirit of adventure and dreams of destiny as yet unfulfilled.
Including Afterglow, Green River, Wyoming, Moran’s iconic canvases of the region were and remain so appealing because they speak to and arouse romantic conceptions of the West. As Nancy Anderson explains, "The compositional formula he devised for views of Green River fed the lingering hunger for spectacular New World landscapes, which would surpass that for views of Europe, and at the same time tapped an increasingly nostalgic view of American Indian life…Moran's Green River images proved so popular, spoke, in other words, so clearly to a romantic and already nostalgic impression of the West, that the artist continued to sell variations on the theme well into the twentieth century." (Thomas Moran, p. 50) Indeed, through the 20th Century images such as this were readily consumed by a growing number of tourists with easier access to the nation’s natural wonders. As a result, Moran’s work has contributed to today’s broadening appreciation for current conservation and preservation efforts nationwide. By conveying the grandeur of an entire region to the American public for generations, Moran transformed the allure of the West into an appreciation of it as an integral part of the American identity—a feat which is considered the finest accomplishment of his career.
The Union Pacific Railroad first steamed into Green River, Wyoming territory in July 1868. Among the travelers taking advantage of this new line, Thomas Moran first travelled to the West in 1871, arriving in Green River City via rail on his way to join Dr. Ferdinand V. Hayden and his surveying expedition of Yellowstone, Wyoming Territory. Upon disembarking from the train, Moran was greeted by an unexpectedly grand panorama and was immediately in awe of its natural beauty. He stayed briefly in Green River City before setting off for Yellowstone, but not before making several small-scale field sketches with assiduous notations. Indeed, Moran’s First Sketch Made in the West at Green River, Wyoming (1871, Gilcrease Museum, Tulsa, Oklahoma) captures the river, its towering cliffs and their reflection, and he would adapt such quick onsite depictions into larger-scale works back in his New York studio.
The Green River became one of the artist’s favorite Western subjects—one that became quintessentially Moran’s—and inspired some of the most majestic and iconic images in the visual history of the American West, including the present masterwork, Afterglow, Green River, Wyoming. Nancy Anderson explains, "Unlike Yellowstone, the landscape of Green River had not been 'previewed' for eastern viewers through illustrations published in Scribner's. The multicolored, castellated buttes were an entirely fresh subject for paintings. Moran made the most of this opportunity, claiming the landscape as his own through a series of paintings completed over a period of forty years." (Thomas Moran, Washington, D.C., 1997, p. 49) Today Moran’s Green River images are considered cornerstones of his output, with examples located in the White House Historical Association, Washington, D.C.; National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.; Amon Carter Museum of American Art, Fort Worth, Texas; Dallas Museum of Art, Texas and the Tacoma Art Museum, Washington.
As in Moran’s best paintings of the subject, Afterglow, Green River Wyoming spectacularly captures the domineering silhouette of the most prominent formation within the area’s diverse geological formations. In brilliant tones of yellow, orange, green and blue, Moran skillfully depicts the textures in the scene, using a variegated paint surface to convey the butte’s rough sandstone façade. Echoing the warm landforms, the sky is a diversified palette of clouds and sun which further highlights the majesty of the landscape. Together with the cliffs in the distance, the river leads the viewer through the landscape, from the lush foliage at left to the brilliant blue river at right. The unique reflection of the towering canyon in the water echoes the majesty of the surrounding landscape.
Moran’s artistic editing enhances the potency of the present work’s composition, captivating the audience with the West’s natural majesty. In reality, Green River City was burgeoning with people and industry, and the landscape was becoming scarred by train tracks, buildings and bridges. Moran, however, chose to exclude these elements from Afterglow, Green River Wyoming and limit human presence to only a small group of explorers at center right. The figures both indicate the monumental scale of the majestic landforms and imbue the work with the romantic nostalgia of the untamed New World. Anderson writes, “For Moran, neither the railroad nor the burgeoning town that had sprung to life beside the railroad tracks threatened the vast and awesome grandeur of the landscape, for in his art he was free to edit and invent, preserving on canvas the mythic landscape endowed by history with symbolic as well as economic value.” (“The Kiss of Enterprise: The Western Landscape as Symbol and Resource,” in Reading American Art, New Haven, Connecticut, 1998, p. 215) Moran’s depictions of Green River, regardless of scale, were always of a pristine, magisterial wilderness imbued with the spirit of adventure and dreams of destiny as yet unfulfilled.
Including Afterglow, Green River, Wyoming, Moran’s iconic canvases of the region were and remain so appealing because they speak to and arouse romantic conceptions of the West. As Nancy Anderson explains, "The compositional formula he devised for views of Green River fed the lingering hunger for spectacular New World landscapes, which would surpass that for views of Europe, and at the same time tapped an increasingly nostalgic view of American Indian life…Moran's Green River images proved so popular, spoke, in other words, so clearly to a romantic and already nostalgic impression of the West, that the artist continued to sell variations on the theme well into the twentieth century." (Thomas Moran, p. 50) Indeed, through the 20th Century images such as this were readily consumed by a growing number of tourists with easier access to the nation’s natural wonders. As a result, Moran’s work has contributed to today’s broadening appreciation for current conservation and preservation efforts nationwide. By conveying the grandeur of an entire region to the American public for generations, Moran transformed the allure of the West into an appreciation of it as an integral part of the American identity—a feat which is considered the finest accomplishment of his career.