Edward Moran (American, 1829 to 1901)
One of the preeminent American marine painters of the 19th century, Edward Moran was born in Bolton, Lancashire, England, in 1829. At the age of 15 Moran immigrated with his family to the United States. He first studied landscape and marine painting in Philadelphia, and at the age of 32 Moran returned to England to study at the Royal Academy in London. Ten years later he was based in New York City, which would be his primary residence for the rest of his life. The city’s harbor provided Moran with subjects for numerous paintings, including one of his best known works, The Statue of Liberty on the Day of Unveiling, which reportedly sold during Moran’s lifetime for $10,000.[1]
In their treatment of vast areas of sea and sky, Moran’s paintings are redolent of the atmospheric luminosity of his English predecessor J.M.W. Turner, while also suggesting the likely influence of fellow New Yorkers Sanford Gifford and John F. Kensett. In 1888 he published “Hints for Practical Study of Marine Painting” in the Art Amateur, an indication that though Moran was adept at historical and genre subjects he knew the craft of painting well enough to have taught it to much of his family, including his brother Thomas Moran, he was most highly regarded for his expertise as a marine painter.
That he was held in great esteem is underscored by an assessment published at the time of Moran’s death: “As a painter of the sea in its many moods and phases, Edward Moran, it is commonly admitted, had no superior in America.”[2]
JNW
[1] Hugh W. Coleman, Passing of a Famous Artist, Edward Moran (Brush and Pencil, Vol. 8, No. 4, July, 1901).
[2] Coleman.
Information courtesy of Shannon’s Fine Art Auctioneers, April 2012.