''Colburn's Butte, South Utah'' is an watercolor painting by the American artist Thomas Moran, created in 1873. Done in watercolor, gouache, and graphite on wove paper, the work depicts Tucupit Point (formerly Colburn's Butte) in the

Kolob Canyons Zion National Park is an American national park located in southwestern Utah near the town of Springdale. Located at the junction of the Colorado Plateau, Great Basin, and Mojave Desert regions, the park has a unique geography and a variety ...

, Zion National Park.

Description

''Colburn's Butte'' was rendered by Moran after the artist viewed the Kolob Canyons on a trip from

Salt Lake City Salt Lake City (often shortened to Salt Lake and abbreviated as SLC) is the Capital (political), capital and List of cities and towns in Utah, most populous city of Utah, United States. It is the county seat, seat of Salt Lake County, Utah, Sal ...

to the north rim of the

Grand Canyon The Grand Canyon (, yuf-x-yav, Wi:kaʼi:la, , Southern Paiute language: Paxa’uipi, ) is a steep-sided canyon carved by the Colorado River in Arizona, United States. The Grand Canyon is long, up to wide and attains a depth of over a m ...

. At the time, Moran was travelling to join an expedition of

John Wesley Powell John Wesley Powell (March 24, 1834 – September 23, 1902) was an American geologist, U.S. Army soldier, explorer of the American West, professor at Illinois Wesleyan University, and director of major scientific and cultural institutions. He ...

along the

Colorado River The Colorado River ( es, Río Colorado) is one of the principal rivers (along with the Rio Grande) in the Southwestern United States and northern Mexico. The river drains an expansive, arid drainage basin, watershed that encompasses parts of ...

.Childs, E. (1996). ''Time''s Profile: John Wesley Powell, Art, and Geology at the Grand Canyon. ''American Art,'' ''10''(1), 7-35. Retrieved January 25, 2020, from www.jstor.org/stable/3109213 Moran's party passed a then unnamed pinnacle in July, with Moran choosing to render a watercolor drawing of the geographic feature. He would later give the watercolor to Justin Colburn, a correspondent for the ''

New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...

'' travelling with Moran, for whom "Colburn's Butte" would later be named. Moran later made an engraving (heavily based on his watercolor) of the butte and published it in ''

The Aldine ''The Aldine'' was a monthly arts magazine published in New York in the 1800s. History ''The Aldine'' was published by Sutton Browne & Company starting in 1868 as ''The Aldine Press'', which was shortened in 1871. Subtitles included ''A typogra ...

''. In the watercolor, several peaks can be seen; the titular Colburn's Butte can be identified as the second from left peak with a white cloud behind it. Colburn's Butte would later be renamed Tucupit Point, and the landmark now falls within the borders of Zion National Park. The watercolor was donated to the Met in 2009.

Notes

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Colburn's Butte, South Utah 1873 paintings Paintings by Thomas Moran Landscape paintings Paintings in the Metropolitan Museum of Art Watercolor paintings