Turreted Peaks in Yellowstone Canyon
1892
Medium
Drawing
Classification
Drawing
Department
Smithsonian Collection
Museum
Smithsonian American Art Museum
Credit
Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Dr. William Henry Holmes
Accession Number
1947.13.32
Tags
Art Historical Context
Thomas Moran's *Turreted Peaks in Yellowstone* (1892) captures the dramatic grandeur of Yellowstone National Park's rugged landscapes in Wyoming. This intricate drawing showcases the towering, fortress-like peaks of the canyon within the Rocky Mountains, rendered Moran's signature precision. As a pioneering American landscape artist associated with the Hudson River School Moran was renowned for his vivid depictions of the American West, which played a pivotal role in promoting parks. Created over two decades after Moran's influential 1871 expedition with the Hayden Geological Survey—whose ske...
About the Artist
Thomas Moran · 1837–1926
Thomas Moran (1837–1926) was an American painter and printmaker of the Hudson River School whose dramatic paintings of the American West played a pivotal role in the creation of the national parks. Born in Bolton, Lancashire, England, he emigrated with his family to Philadelphia as a child. He was largely self-taught, though he apprenticed briefly with a wood engraver and studied the work of J.M.W...