The Cliffs of Green River

The origin of these prints has been little known, but they were produced as a free gift for subscribers to an art periodical called THE ALDINE, published by James Sutton & Company of New York. The "Cliffs of Green River" print is identified on the verso as the "Aldine Chromo for 1874." The journal touted the gift thusly: "Every subscriber to The Aldine for the year 1874 will receive a pair of chromos. The original pictures were painted in oil for the publishers of The Aldine by Thomas Moran ... The subjects were chosen to represent 'The East' and 'The West.' One is a view in the White Mountains, New Hampshire; the other gives the Cliffs of Green River, Wyoming Territory. The difference in the nature of the scenes themselves is a pleasing contrast, and affords a good display of the artist's scope and coloring. The chromos are each worked from thirty distinct plates, and are in size and appearance exact facsimiles of the originals." In the same notice to Aldine subscribers, Moran is quoted as approving of the work, writing that "I am delighted with the proofs in color of your chromos. They are wonderfully successful representations by mechanical processes of the original paintings" (both quoted in Kinsey). Records show that Moran apparently planned a "North" view as well for the Aldine series, showing a Lake Superior scene, but this was never published