Of Birds & Texas: The Art of Stuart & Scott Gentling
On view through October 16, 2022
The Bryan Museum
Galveston, Texas
www.thebryanmuseum.org
Fascinated by the work of John James Audubon, who traveled North America in the 1800s sketching and painting native birds and animals, the Gentling brothers traveled to Texas in the mid- 1980s to capture this state’s abundant bird life on canvas. Texas, because of its geographic location and rich ecological regions, is the permanent or temporary home to over 600 species of birds.
The brother’s dream was to create a large-scale portfolio (termed an elephant folio) of the birds, with written commentary. When Of Birds & Texas was introduced in 1986, the late Texas writer A.C. Greene hailed the finished project as “the most stunning and prodigious book in Texas history.”
40 framed lithographs of watercolors are on display in this exhibition.
[Image: Scott Gentling (1942-2011), Crested Caracara, 1984. Graphite, opaque and transparent watercolor on paper. 22 1/8 x 28 in.]
