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Summary
Summary
Watercolor images of Yellowstone Park painted in the early 1870s by artist Thomas Moran shifted America's gaze westward. Published as a portfolio of chromolithographs by Boston lithographer Louis Prang, these brilliant reproductions--with a companion text on Yellowstone geology by explorer Ferdinand Hayden--were the first color images of our first national park widely available to the general public. As such, they helped shape America's growing fascination with the West.
The Yellowstone National Park portfolio, comprising nine images of Yellowstone and six of other sites, is also now regarded as the finest example of chromolithography ever produced. Yet today these images are less well known than Moran's dramatic oil paintings and are usually admired merely as curiosities of an obsolete technology.
Joni Kinsey, a preeminent authority on Moran, shows that these and other chromolithographs by the artist in fact had an important place in American visual culture and were a vital part of the artist's career. Thomas Moran's West reproduces this renowned collection, along with two dozen other color plates and over 100 black-and-white illustrations, to recapture their impact on the American imagination.
Chromolithography was outmoded by 1900 but represented an important transition in American art. Whereas previously published images of the West had been black-and-white engravings, Moran's chromolithographs had the vivid beauty of high art but could be acquired by individuals who couldn't afford originals. Today the prints are highly valued by collectors, who will appreciate seeing them with related field sketches and watercolors--and in some instances rare printer's proofs from Joslyn Art Museum. Kinsey describes the making and popularity of "chromos," chronicles the debates over their artistic legitimacy, and tells how this medium competed with other forms of picture-making in the late nineteenth century. She also explores Moran's relationship with Prang and thoroughly analyzes the Yellowstone images--including those held back from publication.
Both a visual feast and an authoritative treatise, Thomas Moran's West gives us breath-taking images of unspoiled wilderness as it sheds new light on how artistic portrayals of the West contributed to our national identity.
Reviews (2)
Choice Review
Moran has been the focus of many attractively illustrated and carefully researched studies, and one might ask if there is a need for another study of his work. This book by Kinsey (Univ. of Iowa) clearly bears witness to the fact that there are additional facets of Moran's work that are worthy of study. This meticulously researched and beautifully illustrated volume examines the significance of Louis Prang's publication of the chromolithographic portfolio of Yellowstone National Park for Moran's artistic career, the painting and sketches on which they are based, and the history of chromolithographs in 19th-century American art. Although 19th-century chromolithographs are avidly collected today, in the decades after the American Civil War, elaborately reproduced chromolithographs were both praised and condemned by art critics. They were praised for bringing to the general public beautiful copies of original works that would introduce fine arts. Advocates of higher art condemned them for being false copies of original art works that could now be produced in the thousands but which nevertheless challenged the artistic primacy and legitimacy of the originals on which they were based. ^BSumming Up: Recommended. General readers; lower-division undergraduates through professionals. P. D. Thomas Wichita State University
Library Journal Review
This book reproduces Boston lithographer Louis Prang's collection of watercolor images of Yellowstone Park painted in the early 1870s by artist Thomas Moran. When Prang issued these prints, he brought the colorful landscapes of the American West to large numbers of people and influenced the way people thought about the West. Prang's prints were also part of a revolution in American visual culture and transformed the entire value system of the art world. Finally, they highlighted the important role of visual technology in society, an issue that remains compelling today. Kinsey (art history, Univ. of Iowa), an expert on Moran, has written an authoritative treatise on the art of the old West, "high art" versus popular reproductions, and the reproduction technique of chromolithography in particular. The 167 images, of which 50 are in full color, are a visual feast, and readers will appreciate seeing them with related field sketches and watercolors and, in some instances, rare printer's proofs from the museum. Recommended for larger public libraries, academic libraries, and specialized collections in art, history of the Western United States, or history of printing and visual media.-Sylvia Andrews, Butler Univ., Indianapolis (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Table of Contents
| Foreword | p. vii |
| Acknowledgments | p. ix |
| Introduction | p. 1 |
| 1 Louis Prang and the Chromo-Controversy | p. 11 |
| 2 Thomas Moran and the Published Image | p. 47 |
| 3 The Prang Portfolio | p. 83 |
| 4 The Unpublished Works of the Prang Series | p. 159 |
| 5 Ferdinand Hayden and the Production and Marketing of The Yellowstone National Park | p. 183 |
| 6 The End of an Era | p. 207 |
| Appendix | p. 227 |
| Notes | p. 231 |
| Selected Bibliography | p. 247 |
| Index | p. 253 |