[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 157 (2011), Part 13]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page 18152]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




     HONORING THOMAS MORAN AND THE HUDSON RIVER SCHOOL OF PAINTING

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                         HON. TIMOTHY H. BISHOP

                              of new york

                    in the house of representatives

                       Friday, November 18, 2011

  Mr. BISHOP of New York. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize the 
important role played by the artists of the Hudson River School in the 
development of the conservation movement and the creation of America's 
National Park System. In particular, I rise to honor the painter Thomas 
Moran, who came to prominence in the United States in the 1870's for 
the landscapes he painted while accompanying the geological and 
geographic survey of America's West headed by Ferdinand V. Hayden. 
During that era, the promotion of settlement and commerce in America's 
West was a centerpiece of federal domestic policy, with a special focus 
on exploiting the area's vast natural resources. However, watercolors 
by Moran sent back to Washington with Hayden's scientific data helped 
convince Congress that certain areas of exceptional beauty in the West 
should be preserved in their natural state.
  Shortly after Congress established the first National Park at 
Yellowstone, Moran's 7 by 11 foot canvas ``The Grand Canyon of The 
Yellowstone'' was unveiled to the public at the U.S. Capitol. If any 
pictorial representation could do justice to the West's natural 
treasures, it was the large-scale landscape style of Moran and his 
contemporaries. These massive paintings captured the popular 
imagination, compelling Congress to expand federal land holdings in the 
West and establish Yosemite and Sequoia National Parks in California 
and Mount Rainier National Park in Washington before the close of the 
19th Century.
  Moran later accompanied John Wesley Powell's survey of the Utah and 
Arizona Territories, documenting the natural formations of what are now 
Zion and Arches National Parks. On this expedition, Moran encountered 
the natural wonder that would fascinate him for the rest of his life: 
the Grand Canyon of the Colorado River. In 1874, Congress purchased 
Moran's massive canvas: ``The Chasm of the Colorado,'' which he 
produced along with two dozen wood engravings for a widely read account 
of the Powell expedition published in Scribner's Monthly magazine. 
Moran wrote of the Grand Canyon, which joined the ranks of the National 
Parks in 1912: ``Of all places on Earth the great canyon of Arizona is 
the most inspiring in its pictorial possibilities.''
  Mr. Speaker, later in life, Moran spent many years living and working 
in East Hampton, in New York's First Congressional District, where the 
unique quality of light has attracted some of our Nation's finest 
painters. However, we are truly fortunate that his prodigious talent 
found a fitting subject in the incomparable majesty of the American 
West. Along with his contemporary Albert Bierstadt and the other 
members of the Hudson River School, Moran introduced millions of 
Americans to our western lands and played a vital role in encouraging 
his generation to preserve America's Crown Jewels--our National Parks--
for the enjoyment of generations to come.

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