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
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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