Order Moran book set - Domestic and Wild: Peter Moran's Images of America
An important figure in Philadelphia art circles during the late nineteenth century, Peter Moran was a talented painter and etcher. In addition to depicting farm animals, he also created landscapes, ranging from views of the Pennsylvania countryside to portrayals of the western United States. Whether using a brush or an etching needle, his work was characterized by an emphasis on accuracy, detail and fine craftsmanship.
Moran was a member of a prominent family of artists. Born in Bolton, Lancashire, England on 4 March 1841, he was the son of Thomas Moran, a weaver, and his wife, Mary (Higson) Moran. In 1844, the family moved to the United States, settling in Kensington, on the outskirts of Philadelphia. Of the four boys in the family, Edward (1837-1901) became a well-known marine painter and Thomas (1837-1926) acquired fame as a painter of the American West. Peter likewise followed his own artistic path. In 1857, after attending grammar school in Kensington, he began an apprenticeship at Herline and Hersel, a Philadelphia lithographic firm. However, finding himself bored with the art of lithographic printing, he began experimenting with his brothers’ paint materials. In 1858, he left Herline and Hersel to study painting, drawing and etching in his brothers’ Philadelphia studio.
During this period, Moran was drawn to the rural subjects of the French Barbizon painters Emile Charles Lambinet and Constant Troyen, as well as to the cattle pictures of Rosa Bonheur. Realizing that his interest lay in animal imagery, he began studying animal anatomy while earning his living as a scene painter for the Philadelphia theatre and acting in bit parts with Mrs. John Drew. In 1863, he travelled to England, where he saw examples of the work of the celebrated animalier, Edwin Landseer. Although Moran drew inspiration from a variety of sources, he was, as reported in the New York Times in 1887, “connected with no particular school or master [and] developed himself without influences of any marked kind.”1
Upon returning to America in 1864, Moran established his studio in Philadelphia, where he would remain for the rest of his life. Thereafter, he focused his attention on easel painting and etching, earning special acclaim for his portrayals of cattle and sheep. One such oil, The Return of the Herd, was awarded a medal at the Centennial Exposition of 1876. Moran also painted many landscapes, including depictions of the West and the Southwest that reflected his interest in Native American culture. Indeed, in 1879, Moran accompanied his brother, Thomas, to the Grand Teton Mountains. Most biographical accounts indicate that he made his first visit to the Southwest in 1864, followed by additional visits in the ensuing years. The exact chronology of his activity in the region has yet to be established, however upon returning to Philadelphia, Moran went on to create paintings and etchings of Southwestern scenery, a thematic concern that would occupy his attention for much of his career. One of his most memorable trips was to New Mexico in the summer of 1881, when he accompanied Lieutenant John Gregory Bourke on an excursion to New Mexico and Arizona to study Indian pueblos. In 1890, Moran and the painters Julian Scott, Gilbert Gaul, Walter Shirlaw and Henry Varnum Poore were hired by the U.S. Bureau of Indian Affairs to report on the conditions of the Northern Arapahoe and the Eastern Shoshone Indians on the Wind Reservation in Wyoming. Moran went on to create a sensitive and thoroughly comprehensive study of his subject, accompanied by high-caliber illustrations.
While Thomas would eventually become a leading member of the artist’s colony in East Hampton, New York, and Edward established himself in New York City, Peter remained closely linked with the art life of Philadelphia, working out of a studio he shared with his wife, Emily, who was also a painter and etcher. He exhibited at several local venues, including the Philadelphia Art Club and the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts. Moran’s work was also brought before a wider audience through his participation in the annual exhibitions of the American Society of Etchers, the New-York Etching Club, the National Academy of Design in New York and the Art Institute of Chicago. He also displayed his work at respected commercial galleries, such as Frederick Keppel & Co. in New York.
Moran died in Philadelphia on 9 November 1914. He is represented in many public collections, including the Peabody Institute, Baltimore; the Boise Gallery of Art, Boise, Idaho; the Columbus Museum of Art, Columbus, Ohio; the Amon Carter Museum, Fort Worth, Texas; the Parrish Art Museum, Southampton, New York; the Reading Public Museum and Art Gallery, Reading, Pennsylvania; the Museum of Fine Arts, Brigham Young University, Provo, Utah; the Roswell Museum and Art Center, Roswell, New Mexico; and the Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
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1. “Etchings by Peter Moran,” New York Times, 27 December 1887.
