Tony Foster, The Gates of the Rocky Mountains, Looking N from Numbum Rock, 1999  |  Watercolor and graphite on paper, mixed media  |  22 1/4 x 40 1/2 in. / 3 1/2 x 24 1/2 in.  |  1998.1.14 — Tony Foster, *The Gates of the Rocky Mountains, Looking N from Numbum Rock*, 1999 | Watercolor and graphite on paper, mixed media | 22 1/4 x 40 1/2 in. / 3 1/2 x 24 1/2 in. | 1998.1.14

Tony Foster Journey 9 | 1998–99 | 24 artworks

After Lewis and Clark

commissioned by The Sun Valley Center for the Arts

Painting locations: Idaho, Montana, Washington

After Lewis and Clark was created while Tony Foster traveled along the Missouri River in the United States, reading excerpts from the journals of famed explorers Meriwether Lewis (1774-1809) and William Clark (1770-1838). In 1804, the intrepid duo had been selected by the government to carry out a survey expedition of the (then unknown) western reaches of the US. Their adventure provided the impetus for a watercolor journey depicting what wild landscapes remained along the same route, two hundred years later. Foster managed to capture the mystique of what was once the American frontier even though much of the land is now developed. He spent three months in 1999, both in Montana and Idaho, following in Lewis’s and Clark’s footsteps. Foster’s paintings became part of an exhibition along with other artists who had explored the same theme of discovering the American West throughout time.

Painting locations

United States
- Big Belt Mountains, Montana
- Blackfoot River, Montana
- Columbia River, Washington
- Fir Island, Clearwater River, Idaho
- Lemhi Pass, Idaho
- Lolo Trail, Montana
- Missouri River, Montana
- Snake / Columbia River, Washington
- Yellowstone River, Montana