One of the greatest paintings of the American West is Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone, 1872, by Thomas Moran (1837-1926). The 7-by-12-foot painting turned heads and influenced Congress to establish Yellowstone as the first National Park in 1872.
Moran commented, however, “I place no value upon literal transcriptions of Nature. My general scope is not realistic; all my tendencies are towards idealization…The motive or incentive of my Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone was the gorgeous display of color that impressed itself upon me. Probably no scenery in the world presents such a combination. The forms are extremely wonderful and pictorial, and, while I desired to tell truly of Nature, I did not wish to realize the scene literally, but to preserve and to convey its true impression.”
U.S. Department of the Interior Museum, Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone, 1872, oil on canvas mounted on aluminum, 84 x 114¼”, by Thomas Moran (1837-1926).
Legacy Gallery, Soaring Past Powell Point, oil, 16 x 12", by James McGrew.
Mark Sublette Medicine Man Gallery, Light Slivers, Canyon de Chelly, oil on panel, 36 x 48", by Josh Elliott.
He went on to comment that the men on the expedition to the Yellowstone with him would attest that they had witnessed the scene in the painting, although it is a composite of views assembled into a masterful composition.
The geography of Western canyons and the desert, the color of the rocks and the intensity of light are gifts to the artist. Dark, shadowed rocks in the right foreground of Moran’s painting contrast with the brightly-lit rocks in the middle ground. A condor soaring above the rocks suggests the vastness of the scene. The figures in the foreground include, it is assumed, members of the expedition as well as a Native American, suggesting that the voyage of discovery was more of an introduction to an already discovered and inhabited area.
Contemporary artists also adjust what they see to better convey what they felt in a particular place. The dramatic walls of canyons cast shadows in the sunlight and the effect of the light itself becomes more dramatic.
J Watson Fine Art, Desert Walker, acrylic, 33 x 47", by John Bye.
J Watson Fine Art, Creek Crossing, oil, 24 x 36", by Mian Situ.
The Grand Canyon in Arizona was designated a National Park in 1920 in a ceremony at Powell Point. John Wesley Powell (1834-1902) had led important expeditions of the Colorado River, which runs through the canyon, in 1869 and 1872.
James McGrew’s parents took him through Yellowstone on a backpacking trip when he was 4 months old. Today he backpacks and hikes several hundred miles a year to create his dramatic paintings of the West. He echoes Moran in a way, saying, “I strive to interpret nature with my brush, not just representing a visual scene, but more importantly, conveying the emotions I felt as influenced by the experience including weather and light, movement and energy. I want the viewer to feel those elements and emotions. I hope my works inspire others to love and protect our natural world and cherish our valuable human interrelationships with each other and the environment.”
J Watson Fine Art, Maricopa Sunset, oil on canvas, 24 x 36", by Curt Walters.
Clement Scott, Cliffs of Crimson, oil on canvas, 14 x 14"
Naomi Brown, Ocotillo Moon, oil and acrylic, 16 x 20"
His painting, Soaring Past Powell Point, also features soaring birds to lead the eye into the space, down to the canyon floor and up and across to the opposite rim—the depth of the scene further emphasized by the shadowed rocks on the right, leading to the birds and off into the atmospheric distance.
Canyon de Chelly in Arizona has been occupied for 5,000 years and is a constant inspiration to artists. The stone formations and the sheer walls of the valley are dramatic in themselves but also break up the light in inspiring ways.
In Josh Elliott’s Light Slivers, Canyon de Chelly, the light animates the composition, defining the vertical line of the rocks on the left, shining through the gap in the rocks and hitting the tops of the nearby cottonwood trees and, in a long horizontal, fully illuminating the trees in the distance. He says, “I am for interesting more than pretty” and also echoes Moran in 21st-century terms, saying, “I’m not a total slave to what’s in front of me.” He makes adjustments to enhance his memory of a scene. 
Naomi Brown, California Gold, oil and acrylic, 16 x 40"
Clement Scott, Golden Evening, oil on panel, 8 x 8"
Clement Scott, Passing Storms, oil on panel, 10 x 10"
Tourists to the canyon, intent on visiting the ancient ruins, might miss the colors and textures Elliot shows in the foreground of his painting and the drama of the light. He reminds us to look and to see.
Continue reading to hear from additional artist that are enamored by the stunning beauty and grandeur of canyons and deserts.
Artist Naomi Brown says it perfectly in stating, “Once you let the desert enter your soul, it changes you forever. The desert lets you feel a simplistic, raw freedom that is hard to find. I have been fortunate to have grown up in Twentynine Palms, California, and enjoy its beauty through its smallest desert animals to its vast open colorful landscapes.” When buying art, Brown believes it’s important to have an emotional connection to a piece. “It needs to speak to you every day when it’s hanging in your home,” she says, and remind you of that emotional connection you had when you purchased it. I think it’s also important, if possible, to talk with the artist that painted the piece, to understand the connection the artist had while they painted.”
Joe Orr, Desert Solitude, oil, 18 x 24"
Naomi Brown, Winter Sky in Joshua Tree, oil and acrylic, 24 x 36"
Having lived in the desert his whole life, Clement Scott is very moved by the dramatic light that can occur, but is also very inspired by the monsoon season. “Many of my paintings are attempts to capture these wonderful moments of desert life,” he says. “There is nothing quite like the heavenly colors of our sunsets or the sight and sound of a monsoon storm moving across the landscape. These are moments I cherish both in and out of the studio”
“As a regional Southwest painter, I understood early on the inconvenience of location painting in the desert, which is why I invested in a mobile studio,” Joe Orr explains. When designing the mobile studio, Orr wanted the windows at eye level that opened outwards on three sides, so he could have an unobstructed view of the landscape. “This viewpoint keeps me protected from the unwanted interruptions of people, who, without being aware they are impeding my painting process, can be bothersome,” Orr says. “Also, it allows me to paint medium- to large-size canvases on location without distractions. The canvas, palette and myself are always out of the sun, the wind and the occasional rain shower.”
Joe Orr’s mobile studio.
Joe Orr, La Mesa, oil, 18 x 24”
J Watson Fine Art, located in Valencia, California, represents artists such as John Bye, Mian Situ and Curt Walters, all with inspiring imagery of deserts and canyons. Walters’ piece Maricopa Sunset, is an early-career painting near one of his favorite Grand Canyon views, Maricopa Point, on the Western part of the South Rim. The great formations of Buddha Temple and Cheops glow against the Shadowed North Rim. “Shortly after my 19th birthday in 1969,” says Walters, “on my first trip to the Grand Canyon, I attempted to paint the vista plein air. There was a seductive quality to that moment that has remained with me as a souvenir memory of my youth. The Grand Canyon became the challenge of a lifetime. The one emotion I never want to lose is the amazement that I felt on that first visit and I hope it resonates in each of my canyon paintings. I love all the nuance of the seasons at the Grand Canyon and have had the privilege of rafting the Colorado and hiking many of the inner trails.”
Featured Artists & Galleries
Clement Scott
207 14th Terrace, Bisbee, AZ 85603
(520) 269-3310, www.clementscott.com
J Watson Fine Art
(661) 476-7558, www.jwatsonfineart.com
Joe Orr
joeorrstudio@msn.com, www.joeorrfineart.com
Legacy Gallery
7178 Main Street, Scottsdale, AZ 85251
(480) 945-8818, www.legacygallery.com
Mark Sublette Medicine Man Gallery
6872 E. Sunrise Drive, #130, Tucson, AZ 85750
(520) 722-7798, www.medicinemangallery.com
Naomi Brown
(760) 885-8235, www.naomibrownart.com
U.S. Department of the Interior Museum
1849 C Street NW, Washington, D.C. 20240
(202) 208-3100, www.doi.gov/interiormuseum
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