Above Tower Falls, Yellowstone 1872

Editor: Here we have Thomas Moran's "Above Tower Falls, Yellowstone" created in 1872, a stunning watercolor rendering of a majestic scene. There's such a sense of scale; I’m immediately struck by the drama and, dare I say, a feeling of insignificance in the face of nature’s grandeur. What do you see when you look at this piece? Curator: Oh, my dear, “insignificance” might be *too* harsh. I feel invited. It's true the Tower rock commands attention. Think of Moran there, sketching en plein air, wrestling to capture such immediacy... But it's not about dominance; it's about whispering secrets. Notice the luminosity – it almost feels like the divine is breathing through the scene. Are those trees at the summit merely sketched? It almost looks like a ghostly recall of Caspar David Friedrich's "Wanderer," just…Americanized. Editor: That luminosity is really something. I can see the reference to Friedrich in that lone tree element too! I guess it is pretty special being able to glimpse Moran's raw experience of the falls in real-time and in watercolor, but is that enough to carry its importance? Curator: Carry importance? Girl, look closer. Watercolor demands courage, decisiveness. He wasn't just copying a landscape; he was *feeling* it, responding intuitively to the light, to the mineral hues. Each wash, each stroke breathes with life! The very act of depicting Yellowstone helped to champion its designation as a national park... and thus, here it lives. So what does THAT carry for you, today? Editor: Wow, okay, that definitely reframes it. I hadn’t considered the conservation angle so explicitly. It's not just pretty; it's got purpose baked right in. Curator: Exactly. It's an invitation to contemplate our place within a world so astonishingly larger than ourselves and reflect, humbly. It also makes you want to go chase waterfalls, right? Editor: Definitely! Maybe with some watercolors in tow...