HAGERSTOWN, MARYLAND.- The Washington County Museum of Fine Arts presents The Moran Family of Painters, on view through August 28, 2005. An exhibition of the works of Edward, Leon, Thomas, Mary and Peter - The Morans - a nineteenth century family of painter-etchers - will be on view. Twenty-three of the works are on loan from the Worth B. Stottlemyer Collection of Juniata College Museum of Art and the remainder are from the Museum's Permanent Collection, Yellowstone National Park, other museums, galleries and private collectors.

This exhibit is sponsored by Mr. and Mrs. Charles L. Pitzer of Hagerstown, Maryland. Thomas (1837-1926) is the most famous in the family for his paintings of the American West, his wife, Mary Nimmo, for her etchings of eastern views, and brothers Edward and Peter and Edward's son Leon, for their seascapes, portraits and genre scenes. Originally from Bolton, Lancashire, England, the Moran family, father Thomas, Sr., mother Mary Higson Moran and sons Edward, John, Thomas and Peter immigrated to America around 1844. They settled in Philadelphia where the children received an education rich in art.

At the age of sixteen, Thomas became apprenticed to a wood engraving firm and in 1861, he traveled abroad to London to study the paintings of J. M. W. Turner and Claude Lorrain. In 1871, Moran took his first expedition to Yellowstone country and in 1873, he took a similar expedition, making sketches for his two great works, "The Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone," which is on view and "The Chasm of the Colorado." Shown above is the Museum's 1880 oil by Thomas entitled, "Lower Manhattan from Communipaw, New Jersey." Edward (1829-1901), the oldest, is reputed to be the impetus behind the family's interest in the art world. He began painting in the early 1850s in Philadelphia and seascapes were his forte. By the 1880s, he was considered an expert on marine painting and after his death in 1901, an admirer wrote, "As a painter of the sea in its many moods and phases, Edward had no superior in America." Peter (1841-1914), the youngest, was three years old when the family came to America. He was apprenticed at the age of fifteen to lithographic printers, Herline and Hersel of Philadelphia. He became his brothers' best pupil, but his interest was in animal subjects rather than marines and landscapes. After a trip to England in 1863, he returned to Philadelphia and made his mark as a competent and prolific etcher.

John Moran (1831-1903) settled in Philadelphia where he became an advocate for photography as art. He also did some stereoviews and some painting. Mary Nimmo Moran (1842-1899), Thomas' wife, was a native of Scotland and established herself as one of the foremost nineteenth century landscape etchers in the United States. Many of her etchings were made on-site directly onto the copper plate. Her family came to the United States in 1852 and they were neighbors of the Moran family. Due to health reasons, Mary could not accompany her husband on his western trips and Thomas suggested she take up etching. In the 1880s, she was recognized as the leading American woman etcher. Leon (1864-1941), also known as John Leon, was the son of Edward and made his reputation as a figure painter, mostly in watercolor.