I offer a critical reading of the most famous painting of Yellowstone Park, Thomas Moran's (1872) The Grand Canyon of the YelloWstone (GCY). This painting functions as the paradigmatic image of the Park and the commodification of a specific site within the Park — namely, the canyon and falls of the Yellowstone River. I present a four-act performance text that follows the production of Moran's painting from its earliest sketches and wood cuts in 1870 to its public display and sale to the US Congress for $10,000 in 1872. In making sense of Moran and his moment, I create a discourse consisting of quotations and statements extracted from existing historical documents.
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7.
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Kinsey, J.L. (1997) `Moran and the Art of Publishing', in N. Anderson (ed.), with contributions by T.P. Bruhn, J.L. Kinsey and A. Morand Thomas Moran, pp. 300-21, Washington, DC, and New Haven: National Gallery of Art, and Yale University Press.
17.
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18.
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20.
Muir, J. (1979) `The Yellowstone National Park', in P. Schullery (ed.) Old YelloWstone Days, pp. 39-74. Niwot, CO: University Press of Colorado . (Originally published 1898 in Atlantic Monthly; reprinted in J. Muir Our National Parks, 1901.)
21.
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22.
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23.
Saunders, R.L. (2003) `Yellowstone in Fictional Literature: Themes and Ideas', in R.L. Saunders (ed.) A YelloWstone Reader: The National Park in Folklore, Popular Fiction, and Verse, pp. ix-xv. Salt Lake City, UT: University of Utah Press.
24.
Schullery, P. and Whittlesey, L. (2003) Myth and History in the Creation of YelloWstone National Park. Lincoln, NE: University of Nebraska Press.
25.
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26.
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27.
Silliman, E.L. (2003) `Introduction', in E.L. Silliman (ed.) A Ride to the Infernal Regions: YelloWstone's First Tourists by Calvin C. ClaWson, pp. 1-29. Helena, MT: Riverbend Publishing.
28.
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29.
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