Re: Paleoart

[MBell16766@aol.com]

 Ron Dass wants to know the name of the artist who did the Cenozoic mammal
murals for the Smithsonian. The master's name is Jay Matternes, who gets my
vote for the U.S.'s greatest living paleoartist. Unfortunately for us, he has
rarely done dinosaurs, keeping mostly to mammals and especially early
homonids. I believe one can get his limited edition prints but they are of
hunting dogs.
 In the very early seventies he illustrated a young people's book on
dinosaurs for the National Geographic. He also rendered numerous dinosaur
drawings for the Smithsonian for the use of the Deaton Studios in creating
several miniature dioramas.
 While still a teenager, I had the great fortune of being able to examine an
enormous stack of his dinosaur drawings as well as his mammal studies that
the Deaton's had brought to the Science Museum of Minnesota. They were just
fabulous!
 If any of you have the chance, the American Museum of Natural History has
recently obtained murals and drawings by Matternes for the Paleo and Human
Evolution halls.
They are killer, but, unfortunately, not a dinosaur to be seen.
 Unfortunately, the great Cenozoic murals have been split up. The Eocene
painting is now at the New Mexico Museum of Natural History.
 Dan Varner.