Questroyal 2009

Thomas Moran ( 1837 – 1926 ) Plate 31 A Side Canyon, Grand Canyon, Arizona , 1905 Oil on board 14 x 20 inches Signed and dated lower left: Moran . (artist’s monogram) 1905 . ; titled, signed, and inscribed on verso: A Side Canyon. Grand Canyon, Arizona. Moran . (artist’s monogram) for J.G. Moulton . provenance J. G. Moulton, Chicago R. E. Cies, Oklahoma Frank and Merle Buttram, Oklahoma, acquired from the above Private collection, by descent Plate 32 Sunset , 1901  Oil on canvas 20 1 / 16 x 30 1 / 16 inches Signed and dated lower right: Moran . ( artist’s monogram) N.A. 1901 . provenance Private collection (son of the physician of Thomas Gilcrease, founder of the Gilcrease Museum, Tulsa, Oklahoma) note These paintings will be included in Stephen L. Good and Phyllis Braff’s forthcoming catalogue raisonné of the artist’s work. [Moran] was creative because he awakened the American consciousness to the permanent value of those wide, measureless expanses of wilderness, of sky and mountain and extravagances of Nature, as natural resources of beauty, to be prized and conserved. robert allerton parker, journalist and critic , 1927 1 All that [Moran] does is directed by an imagination so poetical, and yet so clear, and truthful, that his work is more akin to creation than reproduction. richard ladegast, author and critic , 1900 2 He was a lover of nature and a lover of solitude. His art today stands alone, belonging to no school, but is Thomas Moran. fritiof fryxell, geologist and author , 1958 3 The Strange andWonderful Thomas Moran loved a challenge. On several occasions, he left the comfort of his home to join westward expeditions for the chance to paint, and conse- quently shape, easterners’ ideas of hitherto unexplored areas. He acknowl- edged the complexity of this task, writing to his Yellowstone expedition leader, Ferdinand V. Hayden: “By all Artists, it has heretofore been deemed next to impossible to make good pictures of Strange & Wonderful Scenes in Nature.” The undaunted Moran continued: “But I have always held that the Grandest, Most Beautiful, orWonderful in Nature, would, in capable hands, make the grandest, most beautiful, or wonderful pictures, & that the business of a great painter, should be the representation of great scenes in Nature.” 4 Perhaps using this thought as his motivation, Moran actively sought out and painted stunning works of natural phenomena throughout his lifetime. A prominent example, Side Canyon, Grand Canyon, Arizona showcases one of North America’s greatest and “strangest” wonders: a 277 -mile-long gorge sculpted by the Colorado River. In this painting, Moran contrasts verdant trees and brush with sharp, stalwart walls miraculously formed by moving water. The coral accents along the clouds above the gorge in Side Canyon hint at another of Moran’s revered muses: the sun. Fascinated with the daily cycle of this rising and setting star, Moran took to mapping its colorful illumina- tions whether in the east or west. As noted by Phyllis Braff, Moran’s home base of East Hampton was one of his favorite locations to answer the chal- lenge posed by the brilliant performances of the sun’s rays. There, Moran