Year: 1969
One of the big milestones in paleontology this year was the reopening of the Smithsonian's fossil halls. It goes without saying that the National Museum of Natural History is one of the most visited and most influential paleontology museums in the world, and a big reason for its popularity and impact are the murals of Jay Matternes depicting different regions of the US through time. Matternes' murals of Cenozoic landscapes are particularly impactful, inspiring a generation of paleoartists and setting the gold standard for depictions of extinct mammals. From a scientific standpoint, these murals have aged extremely well (which, as we've seen is not always the case with paleoart; I was actually a bit shocked to learn that these were painted in the '60s, as they seem much more modern that that) and still routinely find their way into lecture slides and presentations of those of us that study mammal paleontology. Another reason for this is that they're gorgeous, as perhaps best exemplified by his reconstruction of the landscape of Hagerman Fossil Beds National Monument in Idaho. If you've ever spent a summer evening along one of the West's riparian oases, this mural feels immediately familiar (give or take a ground sloth and mastodon or two). I love the play of shadow on the trees and water lilies and how the greenery contrasts with the bare hillsides in the background. The imminent demise of a beaver at the paws of a saber-toothed cat notwithstanding, it conveys the feeling of a calm evening along a three-and-a-half million year riverbank spectacularly well, making it a great testament to Matternes' skill.
Want to see more? From what I understand, Matternes' murals were too fragile to make it into the new exhibits, which is a shame (though I understand the Smithsonian did install recreations of some of them). Hagerman Fossil Beds National Monument has a large-scale reproduction of this particular mural, and for reasons that are still not 100% clear to me, his famous depiction of Wyoming in the Eocene seems to have made its way to the New Mexico Museum of Natural History & Science. If you're not up for traveling to DC, Idaho, or Albuquerque, a new book on Matternes' work has just been published, and you can see some of his most famous works in an article just published in Smithsonian Magazine.
No comments:
Post a Comment