When the Denver Art Museum opens its “renovated, reimagined and reinstalled” Martin Building in October, there will be several new works hanging amid the collection. One of them is a major work by Thomas Moran. The painting, a 1905 oil titled Indian Pueblo, Laguna, New Mexico, was acquired with funds from Denver resident Henry Roath. 
Thomas Moran (1837-1926), Indian Pueblo, Laguna, New Mexico, 1905, oil paint on canvas, 20¼ x 30¼”. Funds from Henry Roath.
“…[Moran] is best known for his grandiose canvases of Yellowstone and the Grand Canyon. He first ventured west in 1871, joining an expedition lead by Ferdinand V. Hayden, director of the U.S. Geological Survey, to the then little-known Yellowstone region,” writes Thomas Brent Smith, director and curator of the Petrie Institute of Western American Art at the Denver museum. “Moran’s paintings, along with the photographs of the noted Denver photographer William Henry Jackson, revealed to the American public the scale and picturesque beauty of the Yellowstone region and thrust the painter into national stardom. Two years later, Moran joined John Wesley Powell’s expedition down the Colorado River through the Grand Canyon, where he first experienced the unparalleled landscape that would become an artistic muse for much of his life.”
Smith continues: “Lesser know are Moran’s sojourns to New Mexico that began as early as 1881. No longer aboard expedition surveys, he traveled via recently constructed railroads, connecting through Denver. The newly acquired painting Indian Pueblo of Laguna, New Mexico, 1905, is among the works from his visits to the pueblo, west of Albuquerque. As was his typical practice, he made many watercolor sketches during his travels and later created oil paintings in his studio. Indian Pueblo of Laguna, New Mexico was likely inspired by his visit between 1901-02, when he traveled to Acoma and Laguna pueblos after visiting the Grand Canyon,” he writes.
“Indian Pueblo of Laguna, New Mexico, is a rare example of a major painting featuring a pueblo…The painting has an amalgam of characteristics found in Moran’s works, including a warm sunset reminiscent of Turner. The artist anchors the scene with specific architectural elements and local people, elements shared with his Venetian scenes. Indian Pueblo of Laguna, New Mexico, also takes on the theme of the passage of time. The pueblo dwellings in the left foreground are from a time past, an earlier antiquity, while in the deeper background is a catholic church, a presence that is a more recent addition to he Southwest.”
Calling all Western Art museums! Have a recently acquired painting or sculpture? Email the details to mclawson@westernartcollector.com.. —
Powered by Froala Editor
