Barnard Castle, 1862
Watercolor and gouache on blue-green paper Thomas Moran, American, 1837–1926 Gift of Theodore E. and Susan Cragg Stebbins 12 5/8 x 18 5/8 in. (2019-009:14)
Moran doubtless painted Barnard Castle, located in northern England, due to his admiration for Joseph Mallord William Turner (1775–1851), who painted the same site, and though Moran chose the same viewpoint, he created a very different effect. In contrast to Turner, Moran’s work contains an expansive sky filled with harmonious shades of blue that are paralleled in the River Tees below. The soft light of the rising sun has enrobed the castle in delicate shades of pink that are carried upward as accents in the sky. Moran’s use of color results in an elegant, serene retelling of Turner’s earlier work.