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Mallards Visit Excelsior By Les Kouba

Mallards Visit Excelsior by Les Kouba

A limited edition with a flock of mallards landing in the foreground and a carnival in the background.

A commissioned piece of Lake Minnetonka and the old amusement park that used to be in Excelsior Minnesota MALLARDS VISIT EXCELSIOR by MN ARTIST LES KOUBA

This is a picture I painted as a commission for my friend, Floyd Panning. He remembered Excelsior and his childhood trips to the famous Excelsior amusement park on the shores of Lake Minnetonka. After the park closed, the land was developed into a fashionable housing project. Floyd and his wife moved there, but they couldn't forget the park.

With this in mind, he contacted me with an idea if a painting that would show the park as he remembered it. He wanted the painting done from the perspective of where he lives now. I said I’d do it under one condition, Panning had to do the research work.

He gladly accepted and began by running ads in the local paper looking for early photographs of the park. We wanted to make the painting as authentic and accurate as possible. As I put the composition together, Panning said, “Les, everyone knows you don’t paint people and buildings. You’re a wildlife artist. Since mallards are so plentiful in this area and they’re one of my favorite birds, let’s add them to the picture.” The birds added exactly the right touch.

I knew the nostalgia of the piece would make it popular with collectors. We reproduced it and “Mallards Visit Excelsior” Published in 1985

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