Sheer, vertical, cliffs, brightly lit in cream white and rust orange by the low sun, tower over a band of people riding horses into the distance in this long, horizontal landscape painting. The glowing cliffs dominate the upper right quadrant of the painting. They lighten from burnt orange along the jagged tops to flame orange down the steep sides, and are and warm, parchment white near the earth. One tall, narrow promontory to our right looms over a range of lower, rounded cliffs. As the cliffs move into the distance, they are shrouded with a lavender-purple haze. The land closest to us dips into a shallow valley at the bottom center of the composition, leading away from us. The dirt-packed earth is dotted with pine-green, scrubby bushes and vegetation and a grove of low, gnarled trees a short distance to our right. One chestnut-brown horse walks along the path at the bottom center of the composition, lagging behind a cluster of at least two dozen horses and riders winding into the distance. The horses range from ivory white to tawny brown and charcoal gray. The riders are loosely painted so some details are indistinct, but they all seem to have brown skin and dark hair. They wear feathered headdresses and garments in teal blue, fawn brown, or golden yellow. They ride over a low hill toward a crystal-blue river, and then back along a flat expanse toward a row of minuscule, triangular tepees lining the horizon in the deep distance. The horizon comes halfway up the composition, and the tepees are backed by a row of rose-pink, flat-topped cliffs. A pale yellow disk hangs low in the sky, over the distant cliffs. The sky above deepens from soft, lilac purple along the horizon to ice and sapphire blue along the top. A few wispy clouds are burnished orange in the sunlight. The artist signed and dated the painting in the lower right corner, “TYMoran 1881,” with the T, Y, and M overlapping to make a monogram.

Green River Cliffs, Wyoming

Thomas Moran

Sheer, vertical, cliffs, brightly lit in cream white and rust orange by the low sun, tower over a band of people riding horses into the distance in this long, horizontal landscape painting. The glowing cliffs dominate the upper right quadrant of the painting. They lighten from burnt orange along the jagged tops to flame orange down the steep sides, and are and warm, parchment white near the earth. One tall, narrow promontory to our right looms over a range of lower, rounded cliffs. As the cliffs move into the distance, they are shrouded with a lavender-purple haze. The land closest to us dips into a shallow valley at the bottom center of the composition, leading away from us. The dirt-packed earth is dotted with pine-green, scrubby bushes and vegetation and a grove of low, gnarled trees a short distance to our right. One chestnut-brown horse walks along the path at the bottom center of the composition, lagging behind a cluster of at least two dozen horses and riders winding into the distance. The horses range from ivory white to tawny brown and charcoal gray. The riders are loosely painted so some details are indistinct, but they all seem to have brown skin and dark hair. They wear feathered headdresses and garments in teal blue, fawn brown, or golden yellow. They ride over a low hill toward a crystal-blue river, and then back along a flat expanse toward a row of minuscule, triangular tepees lining the horizon in the deep distance. The horizon comes halfway up the composition, and the tepees are backed by a row of rose-pink, flat-topped cliffs. A pale yellow disk hangs low in the sky, over the distant cliffs. The sky above deepens from soft, lilac purple along the horizon to ice and sapphire blue along the top. A few wispy clouds are burnished orange in the sunlight. The artist signed and dated the painting in the lower right corner, “TYMoran 1881,” with the T, Y, and M overlapping to make a monogram.

Colors in this work

Details
Artist
Thomas Moran
Date
1881
Medium
oil on canvas
Dimensions
overall: 63.5 x 157.5 cm (25 x 62 in.) framed: 109.22 x 203.2 x 15.24 cm (43 x 80 x 6 in.)
Department
CAB
Holding institution
National Gallery of Art
Palette

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Image provider
national-gallery-of-art
License
CC0-1.0
Credit
Gift of the Milligan and Thomson Families

Art Genome Taxonomy

9 tags

Subject Matter

  • Landscapes Both · 99%

    The image clearly depicts an expansive outdoor setting of cliffs, open ground, vegetation, sky, and distant formations; the catalog identifies the work as a landscape painting titled Green River Cliffs, Wyoming.

  • Landscapes and Waterscapes Both · 96%

    A broad blue river or waterside area is visible in the middle-left and center of the image, and the catalog explicitly identifies a crystal-blue river in the scene.

  • Equestrian Both · 99%

    Numerous horses and mounted figures are visibly arranged in a procession across the foreground and middle distance; the catalog likewise describes people riding horses into the distance.

  • Light as Subject Visual · 92%

    Low, warm illumination is a dominant visual feature, strongly shaping the orange cliff tops, pale cliff faces, glowing water, path, and clouds.

  • Atmospheric Landscapes Both · 96%

    The distant cliffs and horizon are visibly softened by lavender and blue atmospheric haze, consistent with the catalog’s description of distant cliffs shrouded in lavender-purple haze.

  • The American West Both · 94%

    The title locates the scene at Green River Cliffs in Wyoming, and the catalog describes a western travel landscape with mounted figures and distant tepee-like structures.

Visual Qualities

  • Earth Tones Visual · 96%

    The cliffs, soil, vegetation, riders, and foreground are dominated by browns, rust oranges, ochres, creams, and muted greens, contrasted with cooler blue and lavender atmospheric colors.

Medium and Techniques

  • Oil Painting Metadata · 100%

    The catalog identifies the medium as oil on canvas.

Time Periods

  • 19th Century Art Metadata · 100%

    The catalog dates the work to 1881, placing it within the nineteenth century.

Source & rights

Thomas Moran. Green River Cliffs, Wyoming. Courtesy National Gallery of Art, Washington.

High-resolution sources

Catalog record ↗ Image source ↗ Image license ↗ Image-use terms ↗ Catalog metadata terms ↗

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