Highlands

Leslie Laskey’s Highlands woodcut captures the dynamic curves of the Comet roller coaster in Forest Park Highlands amusement park. This print exemplifies Laskey’s decades-long exploration of the woodcut medium and the principles of abstraction. With its swirling lines, the work conveys a vivid sense of movement present in the 3,120-foot long roller coaster’s wood frame.

Forest Park Highlands was a popular destination for St. Louisans from its inception in the 1890s until it was destroyed by fire in 1963. The Comet, inaugurated in 1941, survived the fire but was dismantled in 1966, making way for the St. Louis Community College-Forest Park campus, which still occupies the site.

Laskey was professor of design in the School of Architecture at Washington University in St. Louis from 1956–1987. He remained a leader in the St. Louis arts scene for over six decades. A group of his friends donated this woodcut as a tribute to his extraordinary contributions. Laskey passed away on June 17, 2021, just two weeks shy of his 100th birthday.