Murray Hill View South

Artist / Maker John Preston ((American, b. 1953))

Date1993

OriginUnited States

MediumOil on canvas

Dimensions27 x 28 in. (68.6 x 71.1 cm)

ClassificationsPaintings

Credit LineGift of the family and friends and in memory of Ruth Smith. In the permanent collection, Brunnier Art Museum, University Museums, Iowa State University, Ames, Iowa.

Object numberum94.8

Status

Not on view

Collections

CultureAmerican

Label TextThis is a hill landscape of Loess Hills located in western Iowa. More specifically, this is a view from near Little Sioux, Iowa. Looking to the south on Murray Hill, the viewer searches for Council Bluffs and sees the farmsteads, once the flood plains of the Missouri River. The loess hills themselves are overgrown with timber-originally tall-grass prairie extended for hundreds of miles, however that landscape has faded when farming practices in the mid-19 Century banned prairie fires. If human management of the Loess Hills continues in the next century as in the past, the fragile hills may be eroded completely and disappear into the flat river plain taking with it the most natural of habitat in the state of Iowa, which is home of over 9,000 plant and animal species. “Murry Hill View South” by John Preston was commissioned in 1993 for the exhibition “Land of the Fragile Giants, Landscapes, Environments, and Peoples of the Loess Hills.” Commissioning for this exhibition was the single largest commissioning of visual, literary and performing arts in the history of Iowa. Select works of art were on touring exhibition in the Capitol, Washington, D.C. and in the U.S. Embassies in Asia and Africa. The Loess Hills of western Iowa are a unique landform and environment. They are formed entirely of windblown deposits of loose soil. Centuries of wind, erosion, and human use created the landscape seen today. Loess soil is common and is found throughout the world. Large hill formations of loess soil, however, occur in only a few places, nestled abreast some of the world’s grandest rivers, such as the Rhine, Yellow, and Missouri. The dramatic ridges, valleys, and peaks of the landscape are visually spectacular. Punctuated by natural and man-made environment, the Loess Hills offer an intriguing juxtaposition of nature and humanity.

Published ReferencesLand of the Fragile Giants, University of Iowa Press, 1994.

Locations