In the summer of 1862, Thomas Moran and his older brother Edward (1829–1901) traveled to England. Edward enrolled in classes at the Royal Academy of Arts, but Thomas decided to forgo formal training to study the work of J. M. W. Turner (1775–1851) at London’s National Gallery.¹ The brothers did not spend all of their time indoors, however. They traveled to their birthplace of Bolton, which Thomas depicted in Toothill Bridge, Bolton, Lancashire (02.801), and then toured the English countryside visiting locations depicted by Turner, such as Hastings.²

Some of Turner’s images of Hastings present a vantage point similar to the one Moran used in this sketch—a panoramic view of the valley that reveals a glimpse of the city and its castle in the distance.³ Moran, however, has included two figures lounging on the hillside to draw us into the scene. If we look closely, we can see a third person climbing up the hill to join them for a leisurely day taking in the scenic vista. Moran’s bucolic view of Hastings provides a much different impression of Great Britain than his depiction of the gritty industrialized city of Bolton.

—Sandra Pauly, Henry Luce Foundation Curatorial Scholar for Moran Collection Research, 2021

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¹ Morand, Thomas Moran: The Field Sketches, 13, 18.
² Morand, Thomas Moran: The Field Sketches, 20. This sketch includes some numerical notations in the upper right, the function of which is unknown. In the center of the drawing is the note “very light” and at the bottom right is “B[illegible]ok[illegible] for[e]ground.” Notes such as these are a frequent feature of Moran’s sketches and generally refer to color, composition, scale, or perspective.
³ Turner’s sketchbooks are housed at the Tate. There are dozens of images of Hastings, but Turner’s views from above Hastings provide the closest match to Moran’s; see reference numbers D05707, D05708, D05709, and D05710 in the Tate collection.