Object Record
Images
Metadata
Object Name |
|
Caption |
"Antelope in Ranch Country" |
Description |
Framed press proof of the print "Antelope in Ranch Country" painted by Minnesota wildlife artist Les C. Kouba. A group of antelope have come to drink at a old wooden windmill and water hole. A doe is enjoying the rancher’s salt lick, and the buck in the foreground is ever alert and watching over his band. One of six prints in the American Classic series. Signed at lower right corner. Wood frame; glass. This painting is Les Kouba’s tribute to our Western plains and to those who choose to live there. After the open range came the fences and then the faithful windmills which helped establish many permanent ranching operations. Water was the key that helped win the West. The Aeromotor windmill with its venerable wooden tower was photographed in the 1960s west of Quemado, New Mexico. It has a solid, homemade quality about it not unlike the people who built it. Only a few of these remain in remote areas of ranch country. Some are still on the job, and are as dependable and tireless as the people who live there. Windmills in ranch country are often left unattended and turned on, waiting the wind-hence, the overflow water on the ground where the antelope prefer to drink. Les Kouba couldn't resist including a bit of his lifeline hobby of Indian artifacts, and sleuthing viewers may discover an arrowhead in the foreground. The windmills of the plains, not unlike the lighthouses by the sea, are the sentinels of scattered ranches often beyond the reach of electricity. Often, a struggling lone tree shares a lonely vigil with the windmill. [The Legacy of Les C. Kouba] |
Catalog Number |
1989-0105-010 |
Search Terms |
Kouba prints Artists "Antelope in Ranch Country" (Print) Antelopes Wildlife art |
Subjects |
Prints Artists' proofs Artists Antelopes |
People |
Kouba, Leslie Carl |