Highlights: "Thomas Moran & the 'Big Picture'"

  • Detail from "The Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone" by Thomas Moran (1837-1926), 1872, oil on canvas mounted on aluminum (84" x 144.25")

    A painting of a tall waterfall flowing into a canyon with steep walls.
    Transfer via Public Law 81-603, 1950. U.S. Department of the Interior Museum, INTR 03001

    Detail from "The Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone" by Thomas Moran (1837-1926), 1872, oil on canvas mounted on aluminum (84" x 144.25")

    Thomas Moran completes this painting in 1872, inspired by the scenes he has witnessed in Yellowstone in the summer of 1871 while serving as the guest artist on a portion of Ferdinand Hayden's government-sponsored geological and geographical survey of the Western Territories. 

  • Detail from "The Chasm of the Colorado" by Thomas Moran (1837-1926), 1873-1874, oil on canvas mounted on aluminum (84.375" x 144.75")

    Oil painting of the Chasm of the Colorado by Thomas Moran (1837-1926), 1873-1874, oil on canvas mounted on aluminum
    Transfer to the Department of the Interior via Public Law 81-603 in 1950. U.S. Department of the Interior Museum, INTR 03000

    Detail from "The Chasm of the Colorado" by Thomas Moran (1837-1926), 1873-1874, oil on canvas mounted on aluminum (84.375" x 144.75")

    Thomas Moran accompanied a portion of John Wesley Powell's survey expedition in July 1873 to the Grand Canyon with the intention of creating a companion piece to his acclaimed 1872 painting of Yellowstone. The result is Chasm of the Colorado, completed in 1874.

  • A painting of a tall waterfall flowing into a canyon with steep walls.
  • Oil painting of the Chasm of the Colorado by Thomas Moran (1837-1926), 1873-1874, oil on canvas mounted on aluminum