Hot Springs of Gardiner's River, Yellowstone

Thomas Moran

National Gallery of Art

This painting shows a colorful landscape from an elevated viewpoint. The horizon is high under a cloudy blue-and-tan sky, and dark purple trees and hills are visible in the distance. The terrain closest to us is a series of terraced formations with water flowing over them, full of textured patterns and mineral deposits. The tiered layers of rock are painted in rusty red, vivid turquoise, and yellow ochre. White water flows down these rocks into small, layered pools that cover the landscape at the bottom of the painting. On the left, two people climb up the sides of the colorful rocks, so far away from us that they look tiny.