NORMAN, OKLA. – A new exhibition featuring images of Yellowstone National Park by the acclaimed American artist Thomas Moran (1837-1926) and printed by the Boston lithography firm L. Prang & Co. opens this week at the Fred Jones Jr. Museum of Art.
Yellowstone in Color: Thomas Moran and Louis Prang Print the West highlights Moran’s and Prang’s 1876 collaboration on a series of 15 chromolithographs – the 19th century’s highest form of printing – of Moran’s watercolors of the newly created national park.
Prior to visiting Yellowstone, Moran illustrated articles in Scribner’s Magazine about the region. His black-andwhite image of the “Fan Geyser,” included in the exhibit, shows the artist’s imagined depiction of Yellowstone’s geothermal features. After Moran visited northwest Wyoming as a member of F.V. Hayden’s 1871 expedition, Prang commissioned Moran in 1873 to make watercolors of the region. Those watercolors formed the basis for Prang’s color lithographs. The prints were later published in 1876. Moran praised the prints, describing the series as “a most sumptuous and magnificent work,” and declared that in chromolithography, Prang had achieved “perfection.”
“The prints are still considered the finest chromolithographs ever produced,” said Hadley Jerman, Eugene B. Adkins Senior Curator. “Moran’s images continue to inform Americans’ expectations of and experience of the American West today. They’re relevant to anyone who has traveled to or dreams of traveling to Yellowstone.”
Prang’s work to make art accessible to all Americans is addressed in a second part of the exhibit that contains a variety of materials produced by Prang’s print shop and graphic murals of the interior and exterior of the firm. A print studio in the gallery offers visitors a chance to make their own art in response to Yellowstone’s dramatic canyon and falls. Amanda Boehm-Garcia, director of Learning + Engagement for the museum, has planned a series of printmaking workshops in the gallery throughout the run of the exhibit.
The Yellowstone in Color: Thomas Moran and Louis Prang Print the West exhibit is made possible through generous loans of materials from three private collections.
“The museum is committed to bringing exciting exhibitions and programs to our community,” said Thomas Smith, Wylodean and Bill Saxon Director. “Yellowstone in Color is an engaging exhibition that highlights significant works by Thomas Moran and Louis Prang and offers visitors the opportunity to participate in our print studio.”
The public is invited to the opening of Yellowstone in Color from 5 to 7 p.m. Thursday, July 6. Participants can enjoy free food trucks, live music from the Jazz Exchange and a printmaking demonstration. Yellowstone in Color: Moran and Prang Print the West will be on display through Nov. 26.
The Fred Jones Jr. Museum of Art is located in the OU Arts District on the corner of Elm Avenue and Boyd Street, at 555 Elm Ave., on the OU Norman campus. Admission to the museum is complimentary to all visitors. Information and accessibility accommodations are available by calling (405) 325-4938 or visiting www.ou.edu/fjjma.