Thomas Moran 1837 - 1926

Private collection, Hampshire, England
Acquired by the present owner from the above, circa 2000

Thomas Moran had the opportunity to travel west when Dr. Ferdinand V. Hayden took the artist along on his government sponsored exploration of the Yellowstone area in the summer of 1871. Moran was overwhelmed by the beauty and grandeur of the landscape writing, "...the impression then made upon me by the stupendous & remarkable manifestations of nature's forces will remain with me as long as memory lasts" (Carol Clark, Thomas Moran: Watercolors of the American West, Austin, Texas, 1980, p. 11). Moran documented the sights of Yellowstone with pencil and watercolor sketches such as the present work, creating a portfolio of images that he used as the basis for finished watercolors and oils throughout his career.  Executed in July 1871, the present work dates from July 21-24, the span of three days the expedition party spent at the "Hot springs on Gardners river" as recorded in Moran's diary of the trip (Thomas Moran's Diary, Collection of Yellowstone National Park, National Park Service, U.S. Department of the Interior, p. 7).