Wyoming Arts Council

Last chance for Thomas Moran

Uncategorized | August 5, 2009

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The University of Wyoming Art Museum is featuring the artist Thomas Moran with two exhibitions of his work this summer, Thomas Moran in Wyoming and Thomas Moran: Pastoral Views and Seashores. Both exhibitions are scheduled to close on August 15.

Thomas Moran spent much time in the Wyoming Territory during the 1870s. He traveled frequently to the Green River Area and completed many sketches and watercolors of the topography of the region. Moran joined the government-sponsored Hayden Expedition to the Yellowstone Region in 1871. He made numerous sketches of Yellowstone’s geological features. These images, and photographs of expedition photographer William Henry Jackson, inspired Congress to establish Yellowstone National Park, the nation’s first park, in 1872. Thomas Moran in Wyoming presents watercolor sketches, drawings, and prints made from his many trips to Wyoming that convey the various forms of producing images for publication at the time. Also included are drawings of the Laramie Plains, the Red Buttes area south of Laramie and the Platte River.

Thomas Moran: Pastoral Views and Seashores explores the etchings Moran made of the seashore and the sea. The effects of water and light were an inspiration for Moran and he traveled to many locations to study the work of such artists as J.M.W. Turner, who was also inspired by sunlight and water and an inspiration to Moran. He was the first artist to build a studio in the East Hamptons, a residence and studio where he and his wife Mary Nimmo Moran summered and worked after 1884.

For additional information on the exhibitions, call the UW Art Museum at (307) 766-6622 or visit www.uwyo.edu/artmuseum. “Imagine learning from the masters” is a guiding principle of the UW Art Museum’s programs. The museum is located in the Centennial Complex at 2111 Willett Dr. in Laramie. The museum and The Museum Store are open Monday through Saturday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Admission is free.

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