Posts tagged rivers
"Mississippi River Meander Belt: Cape Giradeau, MO–Donaldsonville, LA," from Geological Investigation of the Alluvial Valley of the Lower Mississippi River, by Harold N. Fisk, 1944 :: via Pruned, Boing Boing
This bit of virtuoso cartography overlays the meanders and jumps taken by the lower Mississippi River over the past few thousand years. The time-compression inherent in geography always boggles the mind. I love how it looks like a mix between an abstract expressionist painting and an intestinal diagram.
Nate: 
"The Jolly Flatboatmen" (detail), oil on canvas, 1846, by George Caleb Bingham, from the exhibition American Stories: Paintings of Everyday Life, at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, 12 October 2009–24 January 2010 :: via Coudal Partners
This 19th century slice-of-riparian-life manages to combine joyous abandon with highly stylized composition. I love its mannered glimpse at labor, camaraderie, and do-it-yourself entertainment.
Nate: