The Life and Art of Athos Menaboni

About this book

The Life and Art of Athos Menaboni is a straightforward biography of the artist. Menaboni is widely regarded as one of the worlds finest illustrators and painters of bird life and hailed by wildlife lovers art collectors and orinthologists alike as the 20th century Audobon but unlike Audubon he worked mostly from live bird studies. Spanning a sixty-year career Menabonis work professed his love for the more than 150 American birds he painted in their natural surroundings. These delightful interpretations rendered with integrity and love capture the wonderful colors and details of nature. Throughout his career his technical innovations evolved and developed. Menaboni was a tremendous experimenter and explored a wide range of media: painting on canvas silk glass masonite wood panels gesso-covered board and mirrors. He also experimented with different textures using tiles eggshells watercolor Italian glass and pencil in his work. Menaboni was an artist for arts sake and shunned the spotlight of publicity and fame. Thus he is largely unknown today despite the excellence and size of his ouvre.