[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 157 (2011), Part 11]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages 15579-15580]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




       HONORING THOMAS MORAN, THE HUDSON RIVER SCHOOL OF PAINTING

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. ROBERT A. BRADY

                            of pennsylvania

                    in the house of representatives

                       Thursday, October 13, 2011

  Mr. BRADY of Pennsylvania. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to join my 
colleagues from New York, Representative Engel and Representative 
Hinchey, in honoring America's first and most prestigious school of 
painting. Known as the Hudson River School of Painting, this 19th 
century school popularized the American landscape.
  I, too, have a connection to the Hudson River School. One of the 
school's most popular and prolific artists, Thomas Moran, grew

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up in my district in Philadelphia. He later worked at a local engraving 
firm, which sparked his interest in painting. Moran soon garnered 
attention for his paintings and was hired to paint scenes of the 
wilderness of the American West. These paintings, for which Moran is 
best known, are primarily from the area that is today Yellowstone 
National Park.
  Moran's massive landscapes, and works by other Hudson River School 
painters, inspired Congress to dedicate Yellowstone, as well as 
Yosemite and Acadia National Parks. Eventually, these paintings were 
used by environmental conservationists to encourage Congress to form 
the National Park Service in 1916.
  Another result of the School was the creation of the Metropolitan 
Museum of Art in New York City in 1870. Many painters from the Hudson 
River School helped guide the Met's formation, meeting with the 
President, donating funds, and serving as a trustee or member of the 
executive committee. Fittingly, today, many works by the School's 
painters can be found there.
  Mr. Speaker, I encourage my distinguished colleagues to join me in my 
appreciation for the works of painter Thomas Moran, and for the lasting 
legacy of the first indigenous American school of painting, the Hudson 
River School.

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