Wildlife Art – A Legacy of Beauty and Wonder
There are few movements or genres in art which have had more influence upon me personally since childhood than that of wildlife art. In my teens, and even earlier, I used to enjoy painting animals, and during my high school years, I’d love taking opportunities to visit art exhibits featuring the works of leading wildlife artists of the time, meeting them personally and getting their autographs. I collected posters and books of their paintings, many of which I still treasure today. As I’d venture into the outdoors myself, cross country skiing, running, or cycling, my appreciation of everything I saw that was wild and natural would soar as a result of the exposure I’d had to the world of nature through the eyes of these wonderful artists and my own adventures in wildlife painting.
From the glorious 19th century European animal paintings of Rosa Bonheur and the pioneering American ornithological art of John James Audubon to the dynamic and painterly expressions of Carl Rungius and Bob Kuhn, the legacy of wildlife art, and animal art in general, has inspired the hearts and minds of millions, perhaps more in the past two centuries than ever before. Since the advent of photography in the early 1800’s, our understanding of detail and movement in animals has advanced far beyond what earlier artists were able to observe directly from nature. Indeed, it can be seen in many Renaissance and Baroque paintings that even the finest artists of the day had incorrect understandings of the leg motions of galloping horses, for example. In fact, until an 1872 photograph by Eadweard Muybridge, debates were still inconclusive as to whether all four legs of a galloping horse were ever simultaneously off the ground. These examples serve to illustrate the power that photography has had in our understanding the motions and details of animals in nature.
Reverence for creation, recognition of the power, grace and glory of animals in the wild, and an appreciation for our natural heritage are all part of the legacy of wildlife painting and sculpture. For those who wish they could travel and experience more of the natural world first hand, and those who have experienced it, depictions of animals in their natural environments, or even domesticated creatures, often drive home the spiritual element connected with all that is naturally formed, even more than a photograph could, through the touch of an artist who has, him or herself, felt these same intimations.
After all these years, I’m still painting animals with delight! I felt these thoughts would be appropriate, since I’m currently in the midst of working on a series of new wildlife paintings, a number of which will be on view at the art festival in Clarence, NY this coming Saturday, March 2. Please see my previous post for details. I hope you’ll enjoy stopping by to take a look!