Thomas Moran

(1837-1926)

Hot Springs of Gardiners River, Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming Territory 13 7/8 x 10 1/4 in. (35.2 x 26 cm.)

Footnotes

Provenance
Kennedy Galleries, Inc., New York. (as Minerva Terrace, Gardiner's River)
Private collection, acquired by 1998.
Acquired by the present owner from the above.

Exhibited
Canberra, National Gallery of Australia, New Worlds from Old: 19th Century Australian & American Landscapes, March 7–May 17, 1998, pp. 171, 252, no. 79, illustrated, and elsewhere. (as Hot Springs of Gardiners River, Yellowstone National Park)
Dallas Museum of Art, Thomas Moran and the Spirit of Place, March 4–May 6, 2001.
Billings, Montana, Yellowstone Art Museum, 2003.

The American fascination with the area that encompasses modern day northwestern Wyoming and southwestern Montana, was initially spurred on by the reports of boiling rivers, spouting geysers, and wonderous mountains created following the 1859-60 expedition led by Captain William F. Raynolds (1820-1894), accompanied by geologist Ferdinand V. Hayden (1829-1887) and famed mountain man Jim Bridger (1804-1881). 11 years later and with immense governmental support, Hayden returned to the Wyoming territory with a large cohort to explore and document the region, which resulted in the creation of the Hayden Geological Survey of 1871. The Federal government commissioned Hayden's expedition to create a guide for the future use of the land and its resources, including complete documentation of the surveys to include pictorial documentation, in addition to the maps and surveys created by the cartographers and topographers. Two of the foremost artists chosen to accompany Hayden on this excursion were photographer William Henry Jackson (1843-1942) to capture large format images of the landscape and British-born painter Thomas Moran. Thomas Moran was asked to join as the painter of the journey at the recommendation of Pacific Northern Railroad magnate Jay Cooke (1821-1905), however, Moran needed to obtain separate funding to accompany the expedition. Moran was able to secure financing from two sources, Scribner's Monthly magazine in exchange for use of illustrations to be used in the publication to accompany a story about Yellowstone and Jay Cooke, in exchange for a dozen watercolors made on the journey.

Yellowstone's name is derived from the sulfuric yellow deposits in the area, which are a byproduct of the immense volcanic activity in Yellowstone Caldera. Including over half of the world's geysers and hydrothermal features, Yellowstone contains at least 10,000 geothermal features including geysers, hot springs, mudpots, and fumaroles. These geothermal elements are a geographic anomaly particular to the area and left an indelible mark on Moran, as during his 40 plus day journey through the region, he created watercolor sketches of over 30 different geological sites and panoramas. Amongst Moran's most prominent and awe-inspiring depictions of Yellowstone are those he created of the terraces of the Mammoth Hot Springs.

Mammoth Hot Springs is a complex of hot springs on a hill of travertine to the west of the Gardiner River in the northwest corner of Yellowstone National Park, just over a mile south of the Montana/Wyoming border. Because the hot water flows through limestone rich rock formations, it contains high levels of calcium carbonite, which creates a white residue on the stone and provides an ample food source for the algae living in the warm pools, which have colored the stone into shades of brown, orange, red, and green. In Hot Springs of Gardiners River, Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming Territory, Moran depicts a series of these terraces with steaming, mineral-rich reflecting pools in the fore and middle ground.

Hot Springs of Gardiners River, Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming Territory is a stunning example of Moran's mastery of the medium of watercolor. Between his precise brushstrokes to give definition to the craggy rock formations and deft handling of multiple washes to create nuances of color to the water, his technique creates a magically sublime effect that is undoubtedly influenced by the foremost watercolorist in history, Joseph Mallord William Turner RA (1775-1851). Moran's ability to capture the otherworldly landscape of Yellowstone accurately and with such immense clarity of detail, works such as the present watercolor and Mammoth Hot Springs, Yellowstone (1872, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Washington, D.C., object no. 1958.5.2) were essential for Hayden's report to convince congress and the American public to recognize the Yellowstone regions indisputable value and need for preservation.

Hayden's comprehensive report, along with Moran's paintings and Jackson's photographs that revealed the scale and splendor of the beautiful Yellowstone region where written or oral descriptions failed, ultimately convinced the U.S. Congress to enact The Act of Dedication law, which established Yellowstone National Park as the first national park globally and was signed into law on March 1st, 1872, by President Ulysses S. Grant. Moran's interpretation of the geography and the images he produced depicting the wild and fantastical landscape were critical to the creation of Yellowstone as a national park, as the images established the land as the "jewel box" of the American West.