Yesterday, the first installment of the new Ken Burns documentary "The National Parks: America's Best Idea", premiered on PBS. Burns, known for his films on subjects including jazz, baseball, and of course, the Civil War, has taken on what is arguably his most visual topic yet.
While watching the show, a familiar artist's name popped up...
"In 1871, Ferdinand V. Hayden (head of the U.S. Geological Survey of the Territories) led an expedition to Yellowstone to determine the real value of the land. The expedition party consisted of a botanist, zoologist, mineralogist, meteorologist and a team of topographers who were there to collect scientific data about the landscape. Also accompanying them was a young artist named Thomas Moran and a photographer. For the first time, Americans were able to see what mere words had previously described."
Here at Philbrook, we are proud to have Thomas Moran as a featured artist in our permanent collection. The piece you see here, Grand Canyon of the Colorado River (above), highlights another of our amazing parks.
Over a century ago, when travel wasn't an easy option and color photography didn't exist, works by artists like Moran gave the average American an idea of the beauty that made up this vast, varied country. There is nothing controversial about Moran's work, nothing edgy. He wasn't challenging the status quo or blazing a new trail. But what he did have in abundance was truth. And not just the truth of what the landscape looked like, but the truth that is at the heart of the American dream. Anything is possible.
