Albany Museum of Art

Albany, Georgia

912-439-8400

http://www.albanymuseum.com/index.html

Living on the Wind: The Bird Paintings of Athos Menaboni

Albany Museum of Art is pleased to announce that Living on the Wind: The Bird Paintings of Athos Menaboni will be on display in the Raymond F. Evans Sporting Art Gallery from March 30 through September 2, 2001 This exhibition is drawn from over a dozen private and public collections in the Atlanta area. The public is invited for an opening reception and the introduction of the Museum's Evans Society, a special group in honor of Raymond and Betty Evans to support the Museum's commitment to sporting art. The reception will take place at the Museum on Friday, March 30, at 7:00 p.m. Barbara Taylor, guest curator of the exhibition, will give a gallery talk Saturday, March 31, at 2:00 p.m. (right: Blue Jays and Snake, c.1940, oil and pencil on paper, Callaway Gardens)

Athos Menaboni is widely regarded as one of the world's finest illustrators and painters of bird life and hailed by wildlife lovers, art collectors, and ornithologists alike as the twentieth-century Audubon. A significant figure in Atlanta art, Athos Menaboni built a monumental reputation, achieving nationwide fame in the 1940s and 1950s. Like Audubon, Menaboni's attentiveness to nature is both dramatic and enchanting. His art is widespread, appearing in major museums and private homes throughout the world. His artistic talent has been an inspiration to many. (left: Ruffled Grouse, c.1960, oil on paper, Collection of Mr. and Mrs. Glenn Lewis)

Spanning a career lasting over sixty years, Menaboni's work professed his love for the more than 150 American birds he painted in their native surroundings. Working predominately from live bird studies, his delightful interpretations, rendered with integrity and love, capture the wondrous colors and details of nature. Through his intricate and meticulous analysis, one almost feels the artist's intimacy with the subjects he knew best-his beloved birds. His paintings offer the viewer more than just a glimpse into the wonders of the wild-he brings us closer to our fellow creatures. The artist himself said," You cannot improve on nature, you must capture it-and transfer it to canvas." (left: California Quail, c. 1950, oil on paper, Knoke Galleries of Atlanta)

Living on the Wind: The Bird Paintings of Athos Menaboni

by Barbara Taylor, Guest Curator

Athos Menaboni is widely regarded as one of the world's finest illustrators and painters of bird life and hailed by wildlife lovers, art collectors, and ornithologists alike as the twentieth-century Audubon. A significant figure in Atlanta art, Athos Menaboni built a monumental reputation, achieving nationwide fame in the 1940s and 1950s. Like Audubon, Menaboni's attentiveness to nature is both dramatic and enchanting. His art is widespread, appearing in major museums and private homes throughout the world. His artistic talent has been an inspiration to many. Spanning a career lasting over sixty years, Menaboni's work professed his love for the more than 150 American birds he painted in their native surroundings. Working predominately from live bird studies, his delightful interpretations, rendered with integrity and love, capture the wondrous colors and details of nature. Through his intricate and meticulous analysis, one almost feels the artist's intimacy with the subjects he knew best--his beloved birds. His paintings offer the viewer more than just a glimpse into the wonders of the wild--he brings us closer to our fellow creatures. The artist himself said," You cannot improve on nature, you must capture it--and transfer it to canvas."

Throughout his flourishing career, his technical innovations evolved and developed. Menaboni devoted himself to experimentation, exploring a wide range of mediums: painting on canvas, silk, glass, Masonite, wood panels, gesso-covered board, and mirrors. He developed the "undercoat method," a technique of painting in thin, delicate layers of oil that gives the transparency of watercolor, but allows more depth and detail than watercolor produces. Reflected in many of his works is his deep love of the sea, and his landscapes, botanicals, fantasies and mosaics are as impressive as his birds, but it is his birds for which he is world renowned. Menaboni was an artist for art's sake. He did not seek notoriety, instead choosing a simple and somewhat reclusive life, content to paint what he knew and loved best. By shunning the fame and recognition he deserved, he has left the world to wonder: Who was Athos Menaboni?

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For further biographical information please see America's Distinguished Artists, a national registry of historic artists.

This page was originally published in Resource Library Magazine. Please see Resource Library's Overview section for more information. rev. 5/23/11

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