For more than two decades, the National Museum of Wildlife Art in Jackson, Wyoming, has honored and sustained the tradition of wildlife in American art by assembling the most comprehensive collection of paintings and sculptures portraying North American wildlife in the world. Wildlife in American Art presents for the first time a generous sampling of the museum's holdings, charts the history of this enduring theme in American art, and explores the evolving relationship between Americans and the natural resources of this continent.
Arthur B. Singer was an American wildlife artist specializing in bird illustration. In a career spanning five decades, he illustrated more than 20 books, including his masterpiece, Birds of the World, as well as classic bird guides: Birds of North America, Birds of Europe, and The Hamlyn Guide to Birds of Britain and Europe. Singer joined the U.S. Army in 1942 and was assigned to Company C of the 603rd Camouflage Engineers. As a member of unit, known as the "Ghost Army," Singer along with other artists, created camouflage and other forms of deception on the battlefields of Europe. Upon his return to the U.S., he worked briefly in an advertising agency and became a full-time illustrator and artist in 1955. During the 1980s, assisted by his son, Alan, Singer's paintings of state birds were seen by millions when the U.S. Postal Service issued the State Birds & Flowers postage stamps. The stamps became one of the largest selling commemoratives in U.S. Postal history. He received the Hal Borland Award in 1985 from the National Audubon Society. His paintings are represented in several public and private collections in the United States and Europe. Since his death in 1990, retrospectives of Singer's artwork have been presented in several museums and art galleries across the U.S. PAUL SINGER has focused on designs for zoos, museums, and botanic gardens. He has worked as an interpretive sign designer for the National Park Service and his illustrations are included inThe Knopf Nature Guide series for Audubon, The Audubon Master Guides to Birding, The Knopf Collector Guides to American Antiques and other publications. ALAN SINGER is a graduate of The Cooper Union School of Art and worked with his father, Arthur, on painting revisions to both of Singer's field guides to birds, and helped illustrate the State Bird & Flower Stamps for the U.S. Postal Service. Since 1989, he has been a tenured professor at the Rochester Institute of Technology. A prolific printmaker, painter, and author, he has had 27 solo exhibits.
This fully revised portfolio includes field sketches, drawings of footprints, and four-colour photographs of more than 60 species of North American animals taken in their natural habitats. Rather than a drawing manual, this is a reference geared toward artists of any media interested in drawing animals. The hundreds of detailed sketches and photographs capture the true nature of the species. Flat artists can use this guide as a starting point for larger compositions, while sculptors and woodcarvers can use it to define natural-looking poses for their subjects. This replaces 1565231430.
Brenders paints stunningly detailed depictions of animals, so life- like that they could be mistaken for photographs except that their amazing resolution and intimacy go beyond what a camera can do. Each painting is presented here with the artist's comments about his motivations and experiences connected with it. A brief biography of the artist is also included. 10.5x10" Annotation copyright by Book News, Inc., Portland, OR
“For those of us who portray wildlife . . . our decision to persist in our quest for excellence is almost always based on a love affair, a fascination with the creatures of our planet, and a need to share this feeling the best way we know how.” So said wildlife artist Robert Kuhn (1920–2007), who spent a lifetime sketching and painting animals, and generously mentoring other artists. Bob Kuhn: Drawing on Instinct presents a generous sampling of his rarely seen sketches alongside the vibrant paintings for which he is best known. Appearing in conjunction with a traveling exhibit mounted by the National Museum of Wildlife Art, in Jackson, Wyoming, this book allows readers to observe the artistic process of one of the greatest wildlife artists of our time. Curator Adam Duncan Harris provides an introduction and a biography of Kuhn, along with an examination of his working method. In addition, Bob Kuhn features four substantive essays by leading authorities on American art: James H. Nottage of the Eiteljorg Museum of American Indians and Western Art, Amy Scott of the Autry National Center, Lisa M. Strong of the Corcoran Gallery of Art, and Todd Wilkinson of Wildlife Art Journal and other publications. These contributions, written from a variety of art historical perspectives, set Kuhn’s oeuvre within the cultural context in which he worked and deepen our understanding of his achievements. Complementing the essays are brief appreciations by six of Kuhn’s contemporaries and three samples of the artist’s own writing. Bob Kuhn: Drawing on Instinct offers a compelling blend of the artist’s finished paintings and finest sketches—works of art in their own right. This lavishly illustrated book is a fitting tribute that will further establish Bob Kuhn’s place in the pantheon of late-twentieth-century American artists.
Themes of the American West have been enduringly popular, and 'The American West in Bronze' features sixty-five iconic bronzes that display a range of subjects, from portrayals of the noble Indian to rough-and-tumble scenes of rowdy cowboys to tributes to the pioneers who settled the lands west of the Mississippi. Fascinating texts offer a fresh look at the roles that artists played in creating interpretations of the "vanishing West"--Whether based on fact, fiction or something in-between. These artists, including Charles M. Russell and Frederic Remington, embody a range of life experiences and artistic approaches."'The American West in Bronze, 1850-1925' is the first full-scale exhibition to explore the aesthetic and cultural impulses behind the creation of statuettes with American western themes, which have been so popular with audiences then and now. Both the exhibition and this accompanying catalogue offer a fresh look at the multifaceted roles played by these sculptors in creating three-dimensional interpretations of western life, whether based on historical fact, mythologized fiction, or most often, something in-between. Examples by such archetypal representatives of the West as Frederic Remington and Charles M. Russell are complemented by the work of sculptors such as James Earle Fraser and Paul Manship, who contributed to the popularity of the American bronze statuette even though their western subjects were less frequent."--Publisher's description.
Wild Spaces, Open Seasons traces the theme of hunting and fishing in American art from the early nineteenth century through World War II. Describing a remarkable group of American paintings and sculpture, the contributors reveal the pervasiveness of the subjects and the fascinating contexts from which they emerged. In one important example after another, the authors demonstrate that representations of hunting and fishing did more than illustrate subsistence activities or diverting pastimes. The portrayal of American hunters and fishers also spoke to American ambitions and priorities. In his introduction, noted outdoorsman and author Stephen J. Bodio surveys the book’s major artists, who range from society painters to naturalists and modernists. Margaret C. Adler then explores how hunting and fishing imagery in American art reflects traditional myths, some rooted in classicism, others in the American appetite for tall tales. Kory W. Rogers, in his discussion of works that valorize the dangers hunters faced pursuing their prey, shows how American artists constructed new rituals at a time when the United States was rapidly transforming from a frontier society into a modern urban nation. Shirley Reece-Hughes looks at depictions of families, pairs, and parties of hunters and fishers and how social bonding reinvigorated American society at a time of social, political, and cultural change. Finally, Adam M. Thomas considers themes of exploration and hunting as integral to conveying the individualism that was a staple of westward expansion. In their depictions of the hunt or the catch, American artists connected a dynamic and developing nation to its past and its future. Through the examination of major works of art, Wild Spaces, Open Seasons brings to light an often-overlooked theme in American painting and sculpture.
