Chris Calle (American, B. 1961) "Grand Canyon Panorama" Signed lower right. Mixed Media on Illustration Board. Provenance: Collection of James A. Helzer (1946-2008), Founder of Unicover Corporation. This painting was originally published on the Fleetwood First Day Cover for the U.S. 25c Grand Canyon stamp issued October 12, 1990. The American West is a land of canyons, a country sliced, chopped and incised with deep, spectacular gorges. Many of these have achieved fame for their beauty: the Royal Gorge of the Arkansas, the gorges of the Snake and the Columbia, the Black Canyon of the Gunnison. But no canyon is so famous, so singular in its immensity, or so intricate as the Grand Canyon of the Colorado River. The cutting, mighty Colorado has exposed the layers of time like an open book; North America's most spectacular canyon is also the continent's greatest geologic wonder. The inner gorge of the canyon dates from four billion years ago, with layer upon layer of history rising from the depths. Geologists feel that some of the volcanic rock and ash at the very rim of the canyon may be as little as one thousand years old -- a veritable babe in the sense of geologic time. It was into this great abyss that the first European, Garcia Lopez de Cardenas, gazed in awe in 1540. A member of Francisco Coronado's expedition in search of the Seven Golden Cities of Cibola, Cardenas made a side foray to the canyon in what is now Arizona. Millions since have experienced the wonders of the Grand Canyon, made a National Park in 1919. Because of this status, the canyon is much today as it was hundreds of years ago. The Colorado River still cuts slowly down through the skin of the earth and eagles still soar high in the air over this great canyon. Image Size: 15.5 x 12.25 in. Overall Size: 23 x 19 in. Unframed. (B12670) See More