Thomas Moran (1837-1926)
Valley of the Catawissa in Autumn, ca. 1862
Oil on canvas
39.75 x 63.5 in.
Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art, Bentonville, Ark.
When I got home from Much Ado About Nothing (more about which tomorrow) on Thursday, I found in my mailbox a package from
rustydog, containing two wee armadillos in clear plastic balls and a postcard of the painting above, which she said was one of her favorite landscapes at the Crystal Bridges Museum. It was an inspired choice on her part, because I am a big fan of the Hudson River School, Moran especially. In fact, I happen to have a poster from a 1997 National Gallery of Art retrospective of landscapes by Thomas Moran, which depicts another of his monumental works.Thomas Moran (1837-1926)
Green River Cliffs, Wyoming, 1881
Oil on canvas
25 x 62 in.
National Gallery of Art, Washington
As you can see, this one is somewhat smaller, but still pretty darn big. And I can confirm what Rusty said on her card about Catawissa is also true of this one: it's more impressive when it's five feet wide. As it happen, the poster is also pretty darn big, more than three feet across, but even that doesn't compare with seeing the real thing.
