Stag at Echo Rock

Stag at Echo Rock exemplifies the untrained but inventive style characteristic of much folk art. Untutored in the mechanics of perspective, this artist has produced a gripping image in which the background seems to tilt toward us, skewing our sense of depth. Though flattened, the image is rich in visual patterning and attention to detail, and is clearly made by someone intimately familiar with these rural surroundings.Exhibition Label, Smithsonian American Art Museum, 2006