Prairie Fire near Cottonwood Falls, Kansas

Currently not on view

Prairie Fire near Cottonwood Falls, Kansas

1997 (negative); 2003 (print)

Larry Schwarm (American, born 1944)

Prairie fires, while crucial to the survival of the ecosystem, have long fascinated artists with their dramatic visual effect. This image—part of a series of photographs taken by Larry Schwarm over a twelve-year period—depicts one of the controlled burns still conducted in the Flint Hills of Kansas, the last stretch of a tallgrass prairie that once spanned 140 million acres in North America. From his distant and elevated viewpoint, Schwarm keeps viewers removed from the destructive nature of prairie fire, instead presenting a vibrant pattern of color created by the meeting of flames with land and night sky.

Currently not on view

Object Details

Title:

Prairie Fire near Cottonwood Falls, Kansas

Date:

1997 (negative); 2003 (print)

Artist:

Larry Schwarm (American, born 1944)

Medium:

Chromogenic print

Dimensions:

Image: 27 7/8 x 27 7/8 inches (70.8 x 70.8 cm) Sheet: 39 15/16 x 30 inches (101.4 x 76.2 cm)

Classification:

Photographs

Credit Line:

Gift of Lynne and Harold Honickman, 2003

Accession Number:

2003-49-2

Geography:

Photograph taken in Kansas, United States, North and Central America

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Currently not on view