Betwixt Yellowstones

The Lower Falls of the Yellowstone River is captured movement, the falling water pausing before it crashes with thunderous volume into the canyon below, the iconic waterfall scene displaying the betwixt and between sensation of the warming ‘yellow stone’ walls and the late autumn freeze of violent waters.

After joining the famous Hayden geological survey expedition in 1871, Thomas Moran was the first painter to document the dramatic landscape of Yellowstone in large scale artistic renderings. Moran’s paintings were pivotal in helping Yellowstone become the first National Park in 1872, and central to his work was a rendering of the Lower Falls. Since Moran, capturing a unique image of this waterfall has become an artistic challenge.