For some years Olson has focused almost exclusively on the grasses and wildflowers of the North American prairie, meticulously reproducing their elemental structures and colors while—proving once again that art can both imitate and enhance nature—emphasizing their magical loveliness. By painting certain species in their winter and summer “plumages,” he reveals the plants’ stark wintry frame-work as well as their more glorious warm-weather beauty.

George Olson recently retired from the faculty of the College of Wooster in Ohio, where he taught art from 1963 to 2000. His prairie plant studies have been shown widely in the U.S. and England, includ-ing more than thirty one-person exhibitions at such venues as the British Museum (Natural History), the Missouri Botanical Garden, the Chicago Botanic Garden, and the Royal Horticultural Society. John Madson (1923-1995) is considered the father of the modern prairie restoration movement; his books include Where the Sky Began (Iowa reprint 2004), Up on the River, Stories from Under the Sky, and Tallgrass Prairie.