Grand Canyon
Framed: 26 3/4 x 35 inches (67.95 x 88.9 cm)
- 218
Kaleidoscope of American Painting: Eighteenth and Nineteenth Centuries, William Rockhill Nelson Gallery of Art and Mary Atkins Museum of Fine Arts, Kansas City, Mo., December 2, 1977–January 22, 1978, no. 64;
Thomas Moran, a Search for the Scenic: His Landscape Paintings of the American West, East Hampton and Venice, Guild Hall Museum, East Hampton, N.Y., November 29, 1980– January 25, 1981, no. 9;
Thomas Moran, National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., September 28, 1997–August 30, 1998 (traveled), no. 95.
Thomas Moran painted the modest yet arresting Grand Canyon in his New Jersey studio from sketches made during five visits to the national landmark. For this view of the legendary chasm, Moran painted the distant striated buttes with an increasingly lighter palette and less detail, thereby creating the convincing illusion of deep space. Although the geological wonder was a prime tourist destination by the turn of the century, Moran erased all evidence of human activity. Man's presence in the region is confirmed, however, through the painter's inscription at the lower right dedicating the work to the director of the Kansas City-based Fred Harvey Company, a hospitality provider that welcomed thousands of visitors to the canyon, including Moran.
Gifted by the artist to Ford Harvey (1866-1928), Kansas City, MO, August 17, 1912-1928 [1];
By descent to his daughter, Katherine Harvey (1892-1962), Kansas City, MO, 1928-1962;
Bequeathed by Katherine Harvey to The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City, MO, 1963.
NOTES:
[1] In a letter to Ford Harvey from Thomas Moran dated August 17, 1912, Moran wrote: "It would please me very much if you would accept this little picture of the Canyon as a friendly souvenir." New Mexico History Museum, Fray Angélico Chávez History Library, Santa Fe, NM, Harvey Family Papers, AC520, box 1, folder 11, copy in Nelson-Atkins curatorial files.
Ross E. Taggart and George L. McKenna, eds., Handbook of the Collections in The William Rockhill Nelson Gallery of Art and Mary Atkins Museum of Fine Arts, Kansas City, Missouri, vol. 1, Art of the Occident, 5th ed. (Kansas City, MO: William Rockhill Nelson Gallery of Art and Mary Atkins Museum of Fine Arts, 1973), 253;
Kaleidoscope of American
Painting: Eighteenth and Nineteenth Centuries. exh. cat. (Kansas City, Mo.: William Rockhill Nelson
Gallery of Art and Mary Atkins Museum of Fine Arts, 1977), 54;
Thomas Moran, a Search for
the Scenic: His Landscape Paintings of the American West, East Hampton and
Venice, exh. cat. (East Hampton,
N.Y.: Guild Hall Museum, 1980), 8–9, 58;
Henry Adams, Handbook of American Paintings in the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art (Kansas City, Mo.: Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, 1991), 105–6;
Roger Ward and Patricia J. Fidler, eds. The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art: A Handbook of the Collections. 6th ed. (New York: Hudson Hills Press, in association with Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, 1993), 244;
Michael Churchman and Scott Erbes, High Ideals and Aspirations: The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art 1933–1993 (Kansas City, Mo.: Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, 1993), 87;
Nancy K. Anderson et al., Thomas Moran, exh. cat. (Washington, D.C.: National Gallery of Art, 1997), 176;
Seymour I. Schwartz, This
Land Is Your Land: The Geographic Evolution of the United States (New York:
Harry N. Abrams, 2000), 23.
Margaret C. Conrads, ed. The Collections of the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art: American Paintings to 1945 (Kansas City, Mo.: The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, 2007), 1: 20, 404-06 (repro.), 2: 172-73 (repro.).
Deborah Emont Scott, ed., The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art: A Handbook of the Collection, 7th ed. (Kansas City, MO: Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, 2008), 175 (repro.).
"American Art Collection Highlighted in Expanded Galleries," Member Magazine (The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art) (Spring 2009), 7 (repro.).
“Nelson-Atkins Painting to be Featured on Forever Stamp,” Kansas City InfoZine, August 19, 2014, http://infozine.com/news/stories/op/storiesView/sid/59707 (repro.).
Judith H. Dobrzynski, “Name the Best Four Hudson River School Paintings—To Go On Stamps,” Real Clear Arts, August 19, 2014, https://www.artsjournal.com/realcleararts/2014/08/name-the-best-four-hudson-river-school-paintings-to-go-on-stamps.html (repro.).
“Nelson-Atkins painting to be used on stamp,” Midtown KC Post, August 19, 2014, http://midtownkcpost.com/nelson-atkins-painting-used-stamp/ (repro.).
“Hudson River School Masterpieces Made Into USPS Stamps,” ArtfixDaily, August 20, 2014, http://www.artfixdaily.com/news_feed/2014/08/20/6356-hudson-river-school-masterpieces-made-into-usps-stamps (repro.).
Alice Thorson, “Nelson-Atkins painting is a USPS stamp,” Kansas City Star, August 20, 2014, http: //www.kansascity.com/entertainment/visual-arts/article1265754.html (repro.).
Steve Johnson, “Art Institute painting gets postage stamp treatment,” Chicago Tribune, August 21, 2014, http://www.chicagotribune.com/entertainment/museums/chi-art-institute-painting-makes-it-onto-new-usps-stamp-20140821-column.html (repro.).
