Charles R. Knight 5780736 225570498 2008-07-14T10:42:49Z FunkMonk 4280259 Image. [[Image:Charles R. Knight.jpg|thumb|Charles R. Knight working on ''[[Stegosaurus]]'' in 1899]] '''Charles Robert Knight''' (born [[October 21]], [[1874]] in [[Brooklyn]]; died [[April 15]], [[1953]] in [[Manhattan]]) was an [[United States|American]] [[artist]] best known for his influential [[painting]]s of [[dinosaur]]s and other [[prehistory|prehistoric]] animals. His works have been reproduced in many books and are currently on display at several major [[museum]]s in the United States. ==Biography== ===Early life=== As a child, Knight was deeply interested in nature and animals, and he spent many hours copying the illustrations from his father’s [[natural history]] books. Though [[blindness|legally blind]] because of [[astigmatism (eye)|astigmatism]] and a subsequent injury to his right eye, Knight pursued his artistic talents with the help of specially-designed glasses, and at the age of twelve, he enrolled at the [[Metropolitan Museum of Art|Metropolitan Art School]] to become a [[drawing|commercial artist]]. In 1890, he was hired by a church-decorating firm to design [[stained glass|stained-glass windows]], and after two years with them, he became a [[freelancer|freelance]] illustrator for books and [[magazine]]s, specializing in nature scenes. [[Image:Phororhacos.jpg|thumb|left|240px|1901 drawing of ''Phororhacos'' by Charles R. Knight.]] In his free time, Knight began frequenting the [[American Museum of Natural History]], and he eventually attracted the attention of Dr. Jacob Wortman, who asked Knight to paint a restoration of a prehistoric [[pig]] whose [[fossil]]ized bones were on display. Though many artists at the time were reluctant to make such restorations, given the amount of guesswork involved, Knight applied his knowledge of modern pig [[anatomy]] to make the painting as realistic as possible, and he used his imagination to fill in any gaps. Wortman was thrilled with the final result, and the museum soon commissioned Knight to produce an entire series of [[watercolor]]s to grace their fossil halls. These paintings were hugely popular among visitors, and Knight continued to work with the museum well until the 1930s, painting what would become some of the world’s most celebrated images of dinosaurs, prehistoric mammals, and prehistoric humans. One of Knight's best-known pieces for the American Museum of Natural History is 1897’s ''Leaping [[Dryptosaurus|Laelaps]]'' (below right), which was one of the few pre-1960s images to present dinosaurs as active, fast-moving creatures (thus anticipating the theories of modern [[paleontologist]]s like [[Robert Bakker]]). Other familiar American Museum paintings include Knight’s portrayals of ''[[Agathaumas]]'' [http://www.charlesrknight.com/AMNH.htm], ''[[Allosaurus]]'' (see above), ''[[Apatosaurus|Brontosaurus]]'' (see below), ''[[Smilodon]]'' [http://www.charlesrknight.com/AMNH.htm], and the [[Mammoth|Woolly Mammoth]] [http://www.amnh.org/exhibitions/permanent/fossilhalls/personalities/images/personalities_knight_pic.gif]. All of these have been reproduced in numerous places and have inspired many imitations. [[Image:Laelops-Charles Knight-1896.jpg|thumb|right|360px|''Leaping Laelaps'' by Charles R. Knight.]] ===Nationwide attention=== Soon, natural history museums throughout the country began requesting Knight paintings for their own fossil exhibits. In 1925, for example, Knight produced an elaborate mural for the [[Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County]] which portrayed some of the [[bird]]s and [[mammal]]s whose remains had been found in the nearby [[La Brea Tar Pits]]. The following year, Knight began a 28-[[mural]] series for [[Chicago, Illinois|Chicago]]’s [[Field Museum of Natural History]], a project which chronicled the history of life on earth and took four years to complete. At the Field Museum, he produced another one of his best-known individual pieces, ''[[Tyrannosaurus]] and [[Triceratops]]'' [http://www.charlesrknight.com/FMNH.htm]. This confrontation scene between a [[predator]] and its [[prey]] would inspire a huge number of imitations, establishing the two dinosaurs as “mortal enemies” in the popular consciousness. The Field Museum’s Alexander Sherman says, “It is so well-loved that it has become the standard encounter for portraying the age of dinosaurs” <ref>[http://www.charlesrknight.com/Alexander_Sherman.htm “Charles Knight: Prehistoric Visions of a Beloved Muralist”] 2002 Field Museum, In the Field article by Alexander Sherman </ref>. Knight’s work also found its way to the [[Carnegie Museums of Pittsburgh|Carnegie Museums]] in [[Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania|Pittsburgh]] the [[Smithsonian Institution]], and Yale's [[Peabody Museum of Natural History]], among others. Several [[zoo]]s, such as the [[Bronx Zoo]], the [[Lincoln Park|Lincoln Park Zoo]], and the [[Brookfield Zoo]], also approached Knight to paint murals of their living animals, and Knight enthusiastically complied. Knight was actually the only person in America allowed to paint [[Su-Lin]], a [[giant panda]] that lived at Brookfield Zoo during the 1930s <ref>[http://www.agiweb.org/geospectrum/?q=node/15 Interview with Rhoda Knight Kalt] by Emily Butler at Geospectrum. </ref>. While making murals for museums and zoos, Knight continued illustrating books and magazines, and he became a frequent contributor to ''[[National Geographic]]''. He also wrote and illustrated several books of his own, such as ''Before the Dawn of History'' (1935), ''Life Through the Ages'' (1946), ''Animal Drawing: Anatomy and Action for Artists'' (1947), and ''Prehistoric Man: The Great Adventure'' (1949). Additionally, Knight became a popular [[lecture]]r, describing prehistoric life to audiences across the country. Eventually, Knight began to retire from the public sphere to spend more time with his grandchildren, who shared his passion for animals and prehistoric life. In 1951, he painted his last work, a mural for the [[Everhart Museum]] in [[Scranton, Pennsylvania]]. Two years later, he died peacefully in Manhattan. ==Legacy== [[Image:Pasta-Brontosaurus.jpg|thumb|left|240px|''Brontosaur'' by Charles R. Knight.]] It has been estimated that almost every dinosaur book published between 1900 and 1960 contained at least one example of Knight’s work <ref> [http://www.charlesrknight.com The World of Charles Knight]. </ref>. Many works released since then also include examples of Knight’s paintings; for example, [[Stephen Jay Gould]] used one of Knight’s paintings for the cover of his 1991 book ''[[Bully for Brontosaurus]]''. Though many other paleoartists have succeeded Knight (most notably [[Zdeněk Burian]]) Knight’s paintings still remain very popular among paleontology enthusiasts. A commemorative edition of Knight’s 1946 book ''Life Through the Ages'' [ISBN 0-253-33928-6] was recently published by [[Indiana University|Indiana University Press]], and a 2007 [[calendar]] [ISBN 0-7649-3622-0] of Knight’s paintings is also currently available. Additionally, fantasy artist [[William Stout]] has been compiling a series of ''Charles Knight Sketchbooks'', which contain many rare and previously unpublished drawings and [[study (drawing)|studies]] by Knight. The late Stephen Jay Gould was one of Knight’s most well-known fans, notably refusing to refer to ''Brontosaurus'' as “''[[Apatosaurus]]''” because Knight had always referred to the creature with the former name <ref>[http://www.agiweb.org/geospectrum/?q=node/15 Interview with Rhoda Knight Kalt] by Emily Butler at Geospectrum. </ref>. Gould writes in his 1989 book ''[[Wonderful Life]]'', “Not since the Lord himself showed his stuff to Ezekiel in the valley of dry bones had anyone shown such grace and skill in the reconstruction of animals from disarticulated skeletons. Charles R. Knight, the most celebrated of artists in the reanimation of fossils, painted all the canonical figures of dinosaurs that fire our fear and imagination to this day” <ref> qtd. at [http://www.charlesrknight.com The World of Charles Knight]. </ref>. Other admirers have included [[special effects]] artist [[Ray Harryhausen]], who writes in his autobiography ''An Animated Life'', “Long before Obie ([[Willis O'Brien]]), myself, and [[Steven Spielberg]], he put flesh on creatures that no human had ever seen. […] At the L.A. County Museum I vividly remember a beautiful Knight mural on one of the walls depicting the way the tar pits would have looked in ancient times. This, plus a picture book about Knight’s work my mother gave me, were my first encounters with a man who was to prove an enormous help when the time came for me to make three-dimensional models of these extinct beings” <ref> qtd. at [http://www.charlesrknight.com The World of Charles Knight]. </ref>. A homage to the painter was also made in the [[IMAX]] feautre film ''[[T-Rex: Back to the Cretaceous]]'', in which he was portrayed by actor [[Tuck Milligan]]. ==Knight’s works on display== Knight’s works are currently included as part of the permanent collections of these colleges, libraries, museums, and zoos: *[[Academy of Natural Sciences]] ([[Philadelphia, Pennsylvania]]) *[[American Museum of Natural History]] (New York, New York) *[[Bethune-Cookman College]] ([[Daytona Beach, Florida]]) *[[Bronx Zoo]] ([[Bronx, New York]]) *[[Carnegie Museum of Natural History]] (Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania) *[[The Dinosaur Museum]] ([[Blanding, Utah]]) *[[Everhart Museum]] (Scranton, Pennsylvania) *[[Field Museum of Natural History]] (Chicago, Illinois) *[[Florida Museum of Natural History]] ([[Gainesville, Florida]]) *[[Illinois State Museum]] ([[Springfield, Illinois]]) *[[Mesa Southwest Museum]] ([[Mesa, Arizona]]) *[[Museum of the Earth]] ([[Ithaca, New York]]) *[[National Museum of Natural History]] ([[Washington, DC]]) *[[National Zoo]] (Washington, DC) *[[Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County]] (Los Angeles, California) *[[Princeton University]] ([[Princeton, New Jersey]]) *[[Science Museum of Minnesota]] ([[Saint Paul, Minnesota]]) *[[Sebring Public Library]] ([[Sebring, Florida]]) *Yale [[Peabody Museum of Natural History]] ([[New Haven, Connecticut]]) In addition, a touring exhibit, Honoring the Life of Charles R. Knight, was launched in 2003 and has visited several locations throughout the United States. ==Notes== <div class=”references-small”> <references/> </div> ==External links== *[http://www.charlesrknight.com The World of Charles Knight], a website maintained by Knight’s granddaughter Rhoda Knight Kalt (includes most of his paintings) *[http://www.strangescience.net/knight.htm Charles R. Knight biography] at Strangescience.net *[http://www.fieldmuseum.org/evolvingplanet/exhibition_4.asp Charles R. Knight biography] at Field Museum website *[http://www.amnh.org/exhibitions/permanent/fossilhalls/personalities/bios/knight.php Charles R. Knight biography] at American Museum of Natural History website *[http://www.agiweb.org/geospectrum/?q=node/15 Interview with Rhoda Knight Kalt] at Geospectrum (newsletter of the American Geological Institute) {{DEFAULTSORT:Knight, Charles}} [[Category:Animal artists]] [[Category:Muralists]] [[Category:American painters]] [[Category:People from Brooklyn]] [[Category:1874 births]] [[Category:1953 deaths]] [[cs:Charles Robert Knight]] [[de:Charles R. Knight]] [[fr:Charles R. Knight]]