A Mexican Hacienda, Lake Cuitzeo

Thomas Moran traveled to Cuba and Mexico in 1883, making many sketches of the landscape. In this image, we gaze through an archway of dark trees to a sunny hacienda on the banks of Lake Cuitzeo. In the foreground a lone figure sits in deep shadows by a pool of water. This intimate scene, which emphasizes the beauty and quietness of nature on a small scale, is very different from the dramatic panoramas of mountains and canyons that were Moran’s trademark.