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The Prairie on Fire, Alvan Fisher
The Prairie on Fire, 1827

Alvan Fisher

1792–1863 · 1 work

Alvan Fisher’s The Prairie on Fire takes its subject from James Fenimore Cooper’s novel The Prairie. Small figures face a spreading danger in a vast landscape. The contrast of light and darkness gives the scene its drama, while the surrounding grasses keep the land itself in view. Compare the scale of the people with the space they must cross or shelter within.

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Original museum reproductions, with source records on every artwork page.

Artist information: Art Institute of Chicago.

Public-domain art. An imagined museum; no museum affiliation.