Gallery 27B

Moran’s majestically spacious painting attests to the western American landscape as an apt setting for heroic nationalism. At the time this picture was painted, artists were traveling farther in search of ever more extraordinary scenes that could be understood in terms of the national will to explore this nation “from sea to shining sea.” Although Moran’s landscape is from 1906, it is based on sketches made during trips to Yellowstone in the 1870s.

Moran’s majestically spacious painting attests to the western American landscape as an apt setting for heroic nationalism. At the time this picture was painted, artists were traveling farther in search of ever more extraordinary scenes that could be understood in terms of the national will to explore this nation “from sea to shining sea.” Although Moran’s landscape is from 1906, it is based on sketches made during trips to Yellowstone in the 1870s.

During the era of western expansion, the frontier came to exist in the American imagination as a land of unlimited promise and potential, an awe-inspiring paradise as depicted here by Moran. The natural beauty and unique geological features of sites like the Grand Canyon helped artists perpetuate the mythology of the West—Moran painted the Grand Canyon throughout his career, and some of these works were commissioned by railway companies to promote tourism.

During the era of western expansion, the frontier came to exist in the American imagination as a land of unlimited promise and potential, an awe-inspiring paradise as depicted here by Moran. The natural beauty and unique geological features of sites like the Grand Canyon helped artists perpetuate the mythology of the West—Moran painted the Grand Canyon throughout his career, and some of these works were commissioned by railway companies to promote tourism.