The Mirage
Artist
Thomas Moran
(American, 1837 - 1926)
Date1879
Mediumoil on canvas
Dimensions25 1/8 x 62 3/8 inches (63.8 x 158.4 cm)
Frame: 37 1/2 × 74 1/2 × 4 inches (95.3 × 189.2 × 10.2 cm)
Frame: 37 1/2 × 74 1/2 × 4 inches (95.3 × 189.2 × 10.2 cm)
Credit LinePurchase of the Nelda C. and H.J. Lutcher Stark Foundation, 1977
Object number31.18.15
ClassificationsPaintings
DescriptionOil painting depicting an image of figures crossing a river.Label TextThe cliffs of Green River, Wyoming Territory, inspired Moran. The artist’s first sketch in the American West was a drawing of these cliffs, made in 1871. The Mirage, painted eight years later, presents one of Moran’s boldest and most romantic views. He portrays Indians riding into the distance in a watery mist with the weathered geologic forms as a backdrop. Moran omitted the evidence of the railroad that brought him to Green River. For his nineteenth century viewers, he presented an idealized West, a concept that continues to affect perceptions today.
ProvenanceReginald Vanderbilt, New York, New York; by inheritance to Consuelo Vanderbilt, New York, New York; Vanderbilt Family Collection, New York, New York; (Newhouse Galleries, New York, New York); purchased 1952 by Mr. and Mrs. Kay Kimbell, Fort Worth, Texas; 1964 Kimbell Art Foundation, Fort Worth, Texas; purchased October 10, 1977 through (Gerald Peters, Santa Fe, New Mexico) by the Nelda C. and H.J. Lutcher Stark Foundation; accessioned to the Stark Museum of Art
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