Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1926-08-27
CAPITOL HAS GREAT PAINTINGS
BY MORAN. IODIED YESTERDAY
"Grand Old Man of American
Art" Adopted West for
Best Works.
Made Most Noted Pieces in
East From Memory of
Mountains.

Thomas Moran. n. A. "the grand
old man of American art who died
yesterday at 80 In Santa Barbara,
Calf. is permanently represented in
Washington by two Of his most cele-
brated paintings. in the Senate end
Of the Capitol. They are Grand Can
yon Of the Yellowstone" and "Chasm
of the Colorado"
The National Gallery of Art here
also has three of his canvases, but
they are loan by a daughter of the
painter, Miss Ruth B. Moran, who
lived with him in the West. Another
daughter Mrs. Mary w. Tassin. Is a
resident of Washington. living in the
Cecil Apartment. 1926 fifteenth street.
The three pictures in the gallery are
Canyon of the Yellowstone" "Sho-
shone Falls" and "Specters of the
North" The Corcoran Gallery Of Art
does not possess any Of his work, but
within the last year or so displayed
a portrait Of Moran lin 1922 ut his
easel, by Howard Russell Butler
Moran visited Washington within the
last two years.
When the Federal Government paid
Moran $4,000 for the Yellowstone
painting. finished after visit in 1871
to the area now a national park. it
caused something of sensation.
THE public was awed by the serried
buttresses. with their fantastic adorn-
ments and their riot Of color" says
one critic. land it was felt that, in a
sense. Moran had opened up new
world to art" In 1873 Moran again
went West, with Maj. J. W. Powells
expedition. and on his return painted
the "Chasm Of the Colorado" for
which the Government also paid him
$4,000.
Widely Known Here.
AS a visitor to Washington he was
personally widely known in art cir
cles here and professionally acknowl-
edged to be of the highest rank. Yet.
while Moran in maturity deliberately
selected America as the field Of his
principal labors, he was English by
birth. He came to the United States
at the age Of Z. living in Philadel-
phia, and his first work after a public
school education was as an apprentice
to wood engraver. Developing an
aptitude for painting, he launched out
for himself in his teens and at the
early age Of 20 exhibited his first can
vas in 1857.
BY 1851 he was able to go to Lon
ucIL WI y llc eluUItNI, kdI IlCuld1IS cui-
miring the work of the great Turner.
and again in 1867 he went to Europe
visiting France, Germany and Italy
to acquaint himself with the old mas
ters. The event. however. which def
nitely settled him In America was the
pioneering trip to the Yellowstone in
1871. Ever afterward he declared
himself alternately content with the
fiat country around Easthampton,
Long Island. where he lived for 40
years. and with the rugged mountains
of the West. although his range of
worl. was much broader, including
Florida, Mexico, the West Indies and
Europe.
Fellow artists appraise Moran as a
remarkable draughtsman with a
marvellous feeling for color and in
tense fidelity to nature. The paint
ings In the Capitol. it should be un-
derstood, were not painted on the
spot out West. but in his Eastern
studio. Indeed the trip on horseback
to the Yellowstone and the canyon
Of the Colorado in the early 70s al
lowed no facilities for such massive
works. He was able to study a scene
of natural beauty until it was etched
on his memory, and then to go back
to his studio and reproduce it on
by any modern painter.
Won Ruskin's Praise.
Moran's versatility is shown in the
subjects he selected. He was at home
equally in marine views, the peaceful
beauty Of Mexico and Florida, or the
overwhelming grandeur and wildness
of the Rocky Mountains. Ruskin, the
great English critic. pronounced
Moran's Waves Beating on the
Shore" to be 1.-The finest piece of
water-drawing he had ever seen by
any man." He used little or no sug.
gestion in his painting and eschewed
impressionism, but made realistic
vet romantic representation of his
subject. With the ultra modern
school Of art. which he considered
tolerated ugliness and poor drawing
for the sake of achieving a novel
effect, he had no patience, believing
such things soon would pass.
Moran won high recognition also
as an etcher. AS with his paintings,
his etchings cover every class Of sub
jects, including his impressive Gate
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