Drawn to Yellowstone

Old Faithful geyser, Emerald Spring, the magnificent canyons and falls of the Yellowstone River: these and other sites, familiar to millions of visitors who travel through Yellowstone National Park each year, have been an inspiration to generations of artists. Albert Bierstadt, Thomas Moran, Frederic Remington, Louis Comfort Tiffany, and dozens of other artists braved difficult conditions to capture the splendors of Yellowstone in many media, from delicate watercolors and pen-and-ink sketches to powerful oils and popular lithographs. From the moment of its inception in 1872, Yellowstone was simultaneously an aesthetic experience and a potent force in America's search for national identity. By the 1890s, it was known as "the Nation's Art Gallery." It was from Yellowstone that an artistic energy flowed, like the waters that pulse from its geysers, to captivate a nation and contribute to its philosophical and aesthetic history. In Drawn to Yellowstone, Peter Hassrick traces the artistic history of the park from its earliest explorers to the present day.