Twilight, East Hampton

In the etching Twilight, East Hampton, Mary Nimmo Moran manipulated ink tones to cloak a lonely stretch of country road with veils of shadow. On the distant horizon, the uninked areas of paper convey the breathtaking afterglow of sunset. Sinuous lines achieved by deft strokes of the etching needle depict tufts of weeds and scraggly trees flanking the lane that retreats dramatically into the distance. The mastery revealed in this print demonstrates why Moran ranked among the key figures credited with the American revival of the art of etching in the 1880s. She was the first woman artist admitted into the New-York Etching Club; the Royal Society of Painter-Etchers in London elected her to membership in 1881.

In 1866–67, when Moran traveled to Europe with her husband, painter Thomas Moran, she admired the landscapes of the French artists of the so-called Barbizon school, who worked in the countryside outside of Paris. Their intimate, naturalistic images of the local landscape inspired her. In 1878, the Morans purchased an etching press and Thomas taught Mary the intaglio technique. While the couple were summering in East Hampton, on eastern Long Island, New York in 1880, Mary made numerous etchings of the surrounding scenery, including this one. She continued to draw subjects from the landscape of that area, as demonstrated by her later etching Gardiner's Bay from the Fresh Pond, Long Island (TF 1996.83).  

Ville et campagne: les artistes américains, 1870–1920 (The City and the Country: American Perspectives, 1870–1920), Musée d'Art Américain Giverny, France (organizer). Venues: Musée d'Art Américain Giverny, France, April 1–July 15, 1999; Terra Museum of American Art, Chicago, Illinois, December 10, 1999–May 7, 2000 (in modified form). [exh. cat.]

On Process: The American Print, Technique Examined, Terra Museum of American Art, Chicago, Illinois (organizer). Venue: Terra Museum of American Art, Chicago, Illinois, January 13–March 2, 2001.

(Re)Presenting Women, Terra Museum of American Art, Chicago, Illinois (organizer). Venue: Terra Museum of American Art, Chicago, Illinois, October 16, 2001–January 13, 2002.

Klackner, Christian. A Catalogue of the Complete Etched Work of Thomas Moran, N.A. and M. Nimmo Moran, S.P.E. New York: C. Klackner's, 1889. No. 10, p. 18.

Friese, Nancy. Prints of Nature: Poetic Etchings of Mary Nimmo Moran. (exh. cat., Thomas Gilcrease Institute of American History and Art). Tulsa, Oklahoma: Thomas Gilcrease Institute of American History and Art, University of Tulsa, 1984, pp. 13–14.

Cartwright, Derrick R. The City and the Country: American Perspectives, 1870–1920. (exh. cat., Musée d'Art Américain Giverny). Chicago, Illinois: Terra Foundation for the Arts, 1999. Text pp. 17, 25 (checklist); ill. p. 17 (black & white). [specific reference to Terra print]

Cartwright, Derrick R. Ville et campagne: les artistes américains, 1870–1920. (exh. cat., Musée d'Art Américain Giverny). Chicago, Illinois: Terra Foundation for the Arts, 1999. Text pp. 17, 25 (checklist); ill. p. 17 (black & white). [specific reference to Terra print]