Thomas Moran (1837-1926)

This work will be included in Stephen L. Good's and Phyllis Braff's forthcoming catalogue raisonné of the artist's work.

In 1882, Thomas Moran embarked from New York destined for the gulf coast city of Vera Cruz, Mexico. The impetus for his trip was likely connected to the promotion of the Mexican National Railroad, which linked the Pacific and the Atlantic trade routes. It is believed that Moran was commissioned by William J. Palmer, the operator of the line, to produce picturesque views of the undeveloped region’s natural beauty to stimulate commercial use of the railroad.

Upon his arrival in Vera Cruz, Moran was immediately enthralled by what he saw, creating numerous sketches of the unique architecture of this small port city. Moran proclaimed Vera Cruz to be “the most picturesque city on the Western Continent” (as quoted in A T. Wilkins, Thomas Moran: Artist of the Mountains, Norman, Oklahoma, 1966, p. 234). In a letter to his wife Mary, Moran described the scene depicted in Castle of San Juan d'Ulloa, “A quiet smooth sea reflecting the castle and buildings. Very green water.” (as quoted in A. Morand, Thomas Moran: The Field Sketches, 1856-1923, Tulsa, Oklahoma, 1996, p. 67).

The extent to which Moran was inspired by the locale is evident not just in his letter home, but equally in his artistic production at this time. Working in earnest in both pencil and watercolor, the vast group of field sketches that resulted from this tour of Mexico, including many of the Castle of San Juan d'Ulloa, proved to be the largest assortment of their kind that Moran would ever compile from a single journey. These sketches provided the basis for works Moran completed back in his New York studio, such as Castle of San Juan d’Ulloa, likely the first oil painted upon his return.

To Moran, many of the attributes of Vera Cruz represented those of distant Venice, Italy, a city that he would have known through his studies of J.M.W. Turner, but would not yet have experienced himself. Indeed, the influence of Turner on Moran is evident in Castle of San Juan d’Ulloa. Moran renders the scene’s hazy atmosphere with swirling movement and opalescent hues, giving it a fantastical quality, while balancing the composition by casting the profile of the castle and its reflection against the expanses of both water and sky. With ethereal clouds hovering above and seagulls gently touching down in the foreground, Castle of San Juan d’Ulloa transports the viewer to a place of wonder.

During the same time that Moran completed the present work, the painter also completed an etching of a strikingly similar scene. The art of print making, and etching especially, experienced a revival in the latter half of the 19th century, and national enthusiasm for the medium led to widespread distribution, with Moran emerging as one of the most popular artists. In 1885, Moran’s etching of Castle of San Juan d’Ulloa appeared in Twenty Original American Etchings, a portfolio of contemporary etchings, mostly by members of the New York Etching Club.

In addition to the present work and Moran’s etching of the same scene, he also completed at least one finished watercolor of the subject, which was exhibited at the American Watercolor Society in 1884. Needless to say, Moran’s expedition to Mexico was profoundly inspirational and the resulting artistic production received broad attention, with works such as Castle of San Juan d’Ulloa solidifying Moran’s position in the national art scene. One critic observed of Moran’s Castle of San Juan d’Ulloa imagery, “He filled the sky above the castle with light-suffused clouds, he dipped the powerful walls in a warm and gentle effulgence that clothes them with beauty, he led the minor craft of the harbor over a gleaming sea to the clustered sailboats at the shoreline.” (“American Etching Indebted to Moran”, New York Times, September 19, 1926)