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Lot Essay
Thomas Moran first visited Cuernavaca, the charming vacation town 50 miles south of Mexico City, on a trip to Mexico in 1903. The Bathing Hole, Cuernavaca, Mexico is an ethereal reminder of his time in Latin America painted a decade later in 1913.
"As for Mexico, he had painted several reminiscences of Cuernavaca during his later years; they included The Borda Gardens, Mexico, The Bathing Pool, Cuernavaca, and most important of all, A Mexican Fiesta. . ." In the present work, as with Moran's other Mexican scenes from this period, "the Barbizon influence, especially that of Corot, has reasserted itself; the silvery-green trees rising lacy and decorative against the blue of the sky seem as characteristic of Corot as they did of Moran." (T. Wilkins, Thomas Moran: Artist of the Mountains, Norman, Oklahoma, 1998, p. 233)
Historian S.R. Koehler "found in Moran's Latin American pictures a delightful sense of gladness which it is difficult to define in words. The lightness and soft brilliancy of their color, and the feeling of unbounding space they convey . . . are suggestive of the pure atmosphere of fresh morning." (Thomas Moran: Artist of the Mountains, p. 233)
In The Bathing Hole, Cuernavaca, Mexico, the town of Cuernavaca is visible in the sun-filled distance behind an expanse of trees painted in soft, shadowy tones. The verdant landscape that surrounds the bathing figures conveys a sense of intimacy to this beautiful scene.
This painting will be included in Stephen L. Good's and Phyllis Braff's forthcoming catalogue raisonné of Moran's work.
"As for Mexico, he had painted several reminiscences of Cuernavaca during his later years; they included The Borda Gardens, Mexico, The Bathing Pool, Cuernavaca, and most important of all, A Mexican Fiesta. . ." In the present work, as with Moran's other Mexican scenes from this period, "the Barbizon influence, especially that of Corot, has reasserted itself; the silvery-green trees rising lacy and decorative against the blue of the sky seem as characteristic of Corot as they did of Moran." (T. Wilkins, Thomas Moran: Artist of the Mountains, Norman, Oklahoma, 1998, p. 233)
Historian S.R. Koehler "found in Moran's Latin American pictures a delightful sense of gladness which it is difficult to define in words. The lightness and soft brilliancy of their color, and the feeling of unbounding space they convey . . . are suggestive of the pure atmosphere of fresh morning." (Thomas Moran: Artist of the Mountains, p. 233)
In The Bathing Hole, Cuernavaca, Mexico, the town of Cuernavaca is visible in the sun-filled distance behind an expanse of trees painted in soft, shadowy tones. The verdant landscape that surrounds the bathing figures conveys a sense of intimacy to this beautiful scene.
This painting will be included in Stephen L. Good's and Phyllis Braff's forthcoming catalogue raisonné of Moran's work.