Photos: Thomas Moran Art Exhibit Kicks Off with Cocktail Party

EAST HAMPTON, NY — A significant event in local art history was held in East Hampton last Saturday, as Thomas Moran's "Ulysses Deriding Polyphemus — Homer's Odyssey" was unveiled at a cocktail party at The Hedges Inn.

Alan Mitchell presented the work, and Thomas Moran Trust Executive Director Richard Barons hosted.

According to Richard Barons, "Joseph Mallard William Turner, one of England's great landscape painters, was a major inspiration for young Thomas Moran. Thomas and his older painter brother, Edward Moran, traveled to England and saw some of Turner's majestic Romantic seascapes and landscapes. Thomas was overwhelmed by their mystery and power. This copy of a famous Turner was a way for Thomas to learn from the master and pay him homage. Moran's great Yellowstone landscapes are imbued with Turner's style. His paintings are both natural and symbolic — making the American West seem almost grander by capturing the essence of being surrounded by the power of nature."

Photos by Richard Lewin Professional Photography, soniboy@aol.com.

Reporting by Richard Lewin.