Thomas Moran's Vivid Color Prints on Display at Gilcrease Museum

Tulsa's Gilcrease Museum is currently showing one of the finest collections of early color printmaking, or chromolithography, in its exhibit called "Yellowstone and the West: The Chromolithographs of Thomas Moran," which is on display through September 8th at the museum. The exhibit features a suite of 15 prints commissioned and made by Louis Prang; these are prints of Moran's watercolors from his 1871 journey to Yellowstone as a member of the Hayden Expedition. This act of exploration --- and the imagery of it, created by Moran --- led directly to Congress setting Yellowstone aside as our nation's first national park. Our guest on this edition of StudioTulsa is art historian Joni Kinsey. A former Tulsan, Kinsey is a professor of American art history at the University of Iowa and a noted Moran scholar. She's also the author of the catalogue, "Thomas Moran's Art: Chromolithography, High Art, and Popular Taste."