For the Artists: James Perry Wilson

[Danvarner@aol.com]

       Perry Wilson was a legendary museum artist. His diorama paintings at 
the American Museum of Natural History and the Yale Peabody Museum are national 
treasures here in the U.S. Wilson and Francis Lee Jaques were rather like the 
Monet and Cezanne of the museum art business, although, because it's apples 
and oranges, I don't know exactly how the comparison works, but it does. They 
were friends and created supreme environments for the museum's denizens. Coming 
from the world of architechtural draftsmanship, Wilson was a member of the 
same club as Chesley Bonestell, the great space artist. At any rate, here's a 
website about Wilson with a narrated film showing his techniques of painting a 
diorama (one of the most beautiful winter scenes I've ever seen) at the AMNH. 
It's in Realtime which is easily downloaded if you don't already have it. I 
wish I could have seen this 30 years ago for the painting tips offered. You can 
learn a lot here. There is also a brief commentary by Steve Quinn of the 
exhibits department. DV
http://www.amnh.org/exhibitions/virtual/bison/wilson.php