How artists create images depicting the appearance and behavior of ancient creatures that no human has ever seen will be examined in a new exhibit opening on Saturday, Jan. 31, at the Peabody Museum of Natural History. "Designing Dinosaurs: Solving Prehistoric Puzzles" explores the dynamic field of dinosaur art, focusing on how artists reconstruct what their long-extinct subjects looked like, as well as how the creatures hunted and interacted with the world around them. The exhibit will remain on view through March 15.
"Designing Dinosaurs" traces the evolution in dinosaur art from the earliest reconstruction to works based on the most recent finds in China. More than 60 paintings and sculptures are featured. The Peabody Museum's own contribution to the exhibition is the original painting by Rudolph R. Zallinger of his Pulitzer Prize-winning mural "The Age of Reptiles." Other works on display include original work produced for the U.S. Postal Service's 1989 and 1997 dinosaur stamps, illustrations that accompanied National Geographic magazine articles and the earliest depictions of dinosaurs by Waterhouse Hawkins and Charles R. Knight, including a piece by the latter artist that has never been exhibited before. The exhibit also features current art by illustrators John Gurche, Mark Hallett, Doug Henderson and John Sibbick, and sculptors Brian Cooley, Paul Sorton and Gregory Wenzel, who are considered to be among the top artists in this field today.
Visitors to the exhibit will be encouraged to explore the reconstruction process -- from the uncovering of dinosaur bones to the assembly of the skeleton through the reincarnation of the animal in art. Juxtaposed against the images in the exhibition will be the fossils in the Peabody's Great Hall of Dinosaurs. A variety of special events, such as "Dinosaur Days" and other family programs, have been planned in conjunction with the exhibition. Listings for these events will appear in future issues of the Yale Bulletin & Calendar.
"Designing Dinosaurs: Solving Prehistoric Puzzles" comes to Yale from the Bruce Museum of Art and Sciences in Greenwich, Connecticut. The exhibit is the result of a collaboration of guest curators and dinosaurs artists, including Kenneth Yellis, assistant director of public programs for the Peabody Museum. Following its run at Yale, the exhibit will move to The Academy of Natural Sciences in Philadelphia. Sponsors of the exhibit include the U.S. Trust Company of Connecticut, Virginia and Juan Meyer, Susan E. Lynch, Norman and Suzanne Hascoe, and Mr. and Mrs. David W.C. Webber.
The Peabody Museum of Natural History, located at 170 Whitney Ave., is open 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Monday-Saturday and noon-5 p.m. Sunday. Admission is $5 for adults, $3 for children ages 3-15 and senior citizens over age 65, and free for members of the Yale community with a valid I.D. For information on events and parking, call the InfoTape at 432-5050.