Two paintings by the American landscape artist Thomas Moran (1837-1926) that have been in a private collection and out of public view for over 70 years were on exhibit in the Dubuque Museum of Art’s Randall Lengeling Gallery. The paintings were Grand Canyon of Arizona at Sunrise, 1910 and The Venetian Lagoon, 1898.
Thomas Moran, who would have been 175 years old in 2012, was one of America’s greatest landscape painters as well as one of the most prolific illustrators of the 19th century and Dubuque Museum of Art was thrilled to be able to present these masterworks to the public, for a limited time. Executive Director, Mark Wahlert stressed the significance of the unprecedented loan to the Museum and its significance to Museum visitors, “DUMA is honored to present these extraordinary works to the public for the first time in over 70 years. Moran’s works are widely recognized as some of the finest examples of landscape painting in the world, and the generous loan of these works provides another opportunity for the Museum to present a truly world-class art experience to our community.”
Moran is known as the father of the national park system because his images of Yellowstone helped establish it as the first national park in 1872. Yellowstone and the Grand Canyon became synonymous with Moran and he even incorporated his nickname, Thomas “Yellowstone” Moran, into his signature. In addition, Moran was a great admirer of J.M.W. Turner and like Turner his images of Venice became some of his most prized works. Thomas Moran lived to the age of 89. He died at his home in Santa Barbara, California in 1926.