Provenance
Purchased, and possibly commissioned, 1864 by George Frederick Tyler, Philadelphia.[1] Spears collection.[2] (Henry Schultheis Co., New York); (sale, Parke-Bernet Galleries, New York, 24 February 1938, no. 35, as _Western Landscape_); P. Kachurn.[3] private collection, from the 1960s; acquired by Mrs. Kachurian; gift to her son, Leon Kachurian; acquired September 1998 by (Gerald Peters Gallery, Santa Fe);[4] sold 1998 to Vern Milligan [d. 2012], Denver; purchased 26 October 2010 by NGA.
[1] This is recorded by the artist in his "Opus List" (4026.4048, Archive, Gilcrease Museum, Tusla), in which the painting is number 8. "O.P.8" is inscribed on the canvas below the signature. See Nancy K. Anderson, _Thomas Moran_, exh. cat. National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.; Gilcrease Museum, Tulsa; Seattle Art Museum, New Haven and London, 1997: 189, 350, 352.
[2] This collection is named in the 1938 sale catalogue.
[3] The consignor's and buyer's names related to the 1938 auction were kindly provided by Sotheby's department of American art (personal communication, 22 July 2013, recorded in NGA curatorial files). It is possible that "Kachurn" was a misspelling of "Kachurian" and that the painting remained in the Kachurian family from the 1938 sale until the 1998 sale to the Peters Gallery. A label from Bernard Danenberg Galleries, New York (now in NGA curatorial files), with the title _Landscape with Self-Portrait_, was on the painting's frame, but it has not yet been determined when this dealer had possession.
[4] Information about ownership of the painting by the Kachurians was kindly provided by the Gerald Peters Gallery (e-mails of 11 July 2013, in NGA curatorial files).
Accession Number
2010.107.1
Medium
oil on canvas
Dimensions
overall: 50.8 x 76.2 cm (20 x 30 in.) | framed: 79.38 × 105.09 × 11.75 cm (31 1/4 × 41 3/8 × 4 5/8 in.)
Classification
Painting
Credit Line
Gift of Max and Heidi Berry and Ann and Mark Kington/The Kington Foundation
Tags
Painting Impressionist & Modern (1851–1900) Oil Painting Canvas American
Background & Context
Background Story
Thomas Moran (1837-1926) was one of the foremost painters of the American West, known for his dramatic landscapes of Yellowstone, the Grand Canyon, and other western wonders. The Juniata, Evening from 1864 is an early work, depicting the Juniata River in Pennsylvania—a subject that belongs to the Hudson River School tradition of eastern landscape painting rather than the western subjects that would make Moran's reputation. The 1864 date places this in the period when Moran was still working within the Hudson River School tradition, before his first trip west in 1871 transformed his subject matter and his style.
Cultural Impact
Moran's early eastern landscapes like The Juniata, Evening are important documents in his artistic development because they show the Hudson River School tradition from which his western style emerged. The 1864 painting demonstrates that Moran's dramatic western landscapes were not created ex nihilo but grew out of a tradition of eastern landscape painting that valued luminous atmosphere and carefully observed natural effects.
Why It Matters
The Juniata, Evening is Moran before the West: an eastern landscape in the Hudson River School tradition, demonstrating the luminous atmosphere and careful observation of natural effects that would later be applied to the dramatic scenery of Yellowstone and the Grand Canyon. The 1864 date makes this a document of Moran's eastern origins before the West transformed him.
