Label
(from 2014.Old Walks and New)
Stan Herd, American (Kansas), b. 1950
Smoky Valley Byway, 2009, linocut
Better known for his earthworks, enormous realistic images made of crops, Kansan Stan Herd also paints and make prints. This linocut depicts a scene on the Smoky Valley Byway, one of the state’s scenic byways, which runs through the valley of the Smoky Hill River near WaKeeny. The sky and its towering clouds dominate the landscape, which has a very low horizon line. The deep perspective created by road, crop and fence lines communicates the flatness and vastness of western Kansas. The print is related to Herd’s painting of the Smoky Valley Byway. It was one of the nine byways scenes that he painted in 2009 for the Kansas departments of Transportation and Commerce and the Kansas Lottery, which used them as lottery prizes.