Farewell to the Smokies (Trail of Tears)

Farewell to the Smokies (Trail of Tears)

2007
Artist
Kay WalkingStick, Cherokee, American, Anglo, 1935
Born: Syracuse, NY
Work Locations: New York, Pennsylvania
Culture
Cherokee | Anglo
Object
painting, diptych
Medium
oil paint on wood panel
Accession Number
2008.14A-B
Credit Line
William Sr. and Dorothy Harmsen Collection at the Denver Art Museum, by exchange

Kay WalkingStick (Cherokee)
Farewell to the Smokies (Trail of Tears), 2007
Oil paint on wood panel
36 x 72 in.
Denver Art Museum: William Sr. and Dorothy Harmsen Collection at the Denver Art Museum, by exchange, 2008.14A-B
© Kay WalkingStick
Image courtesy of the Denver Art Museum

Dimensions
overall height: 36 in, 91.4400 cm; overall width: 72 in, 182.8800 cm
Department
Native Arts
Collection
Indigenous Arts of North America
This object is currently on view
The artist painted this abstract landscape after a visit to the Smoky Mountains. The painting recalls the “Trail of Tears,” the eviction of the Cherokees from North Carolina in the 1830s, as evoked by the haunting line of figures moving from a sunlit mountain to a darker unknown. The event left lasting scars on the Cherokee people.
Exhibition History
  • "Kay WalkingStick: An American Artist"—Heard Museum, 10/10/2016 - 1/8/2017
  • The Dayton Art Institute, 2/9/2017 - 5/7/2017
  • Kalamazoo Institute of Arts, 6/17/2017 - 9/10/2017
  • Gilcrease Museum, 10/2/2017 - 1/2018
  • Montclair Art Museum 2/3/2018 - 6/7/2018)