Five years in development, the new book, Bob Kuhn: Drawing on Instinct, edited by Adam Duncan Harris, curator of art for the National Museum of Wildlife Art, emerged from the museum’s desire to highlight the work of one of the greatest wildlife artists of our time. Released today, the book works both as a stand-alone title offering a timely perspective on the late artists career and as an exhibition catalogue accompanying the retrospective show of the same title on display at the National Museum of Wildlife Art in Jackson Hole through August 19, 2012, followed by appearances at the National Sporting Library and Museum in Middleburg, Virginia, the Sam Noble Museum at the University of Oklahoma, and the Tucson Museum of Art and Historic Block.
Lavishly illustrated with more than 300 illustrations – many of them never available to the public before – Bob Kuhn: Drawing on Instinct (University of Oklahoma Press, June 2012, $29.95) provides appreciations by Kuhn contemporaries Howard Terpning, George Carlson, Ken Carlson, George McLean, Kent Ullberg, and Ken Bunn, as well as scholarly essays from a variety of perspectives that place Kuhn’s work in a broader cultural and art historical context, and an introduction, biography and examination of Kuhn’s working method by Harris. The book is available for sale at a variety of locations including the National Museum of Wildlife Art and via the University of Oklahoma Press.
A lifelong student of drawing, the late, great wildlife artist Kuhn believed that drawing and sketching were the essential keys to success in the art world and left behind more than 5,000 studies in his studio after his death in 2007. The book’s illustrations comprise a compelling blend of his finished paintings and finest sketches – works of art in their own right.
“Because Kuhn concentrated on developing fresh ideas and found new ways to use color and abstractions in his compositions, he produced a dynamic body of work that presents a robust picture of the animal world with vibrancy and adventurousness,” says Harris. “And each painting began with a simple sketch.”
A member of the Museums West consortium and accredited by the American Association of Museums, the museum, officially designated the National Museum of Wildlife Art of the United States by an act of Congress in 2008, provides an exciting calendar of exhibitions from its permanent collection and changing exhibitions from around the globe. A complete schedule of exhibitions and events is available online at www.wildlifeart.org
