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The Tiger, 1929, Charles
Livingston Bull, for Barnum and Bailey.
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I was trying to locate a show by a friend last week. Google came up with a number of references to her paired with the phrase “local artist.” It’s a funny
term, and one I dislike.
There are local movements in art communities (such as the Northern
California Tonalists or the Bay Area Figurative Movement) but in general most
of us are working within the broader movement of our age. This is particularly
true in today’s world, where boundaries are blurred by the internet.
Even worse is the term, “well-known local artist.” It’s
amazing how many artists are unknown in their home towns and well-known
elsewhere.
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Saturday Evening Post
cover art, March 6 1918, by Charles Livingston Bull
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Consider the wildlife artist Charles Livingston Bull. Born
in West Walworth, New York, he demonstrated an aptitude for drawing at a very
young age. He enrolled at the Rochester Athenaeum and Mechanics Institute (now Rochester
Institute of Technology) to study drafting, and took a taxidermy apprenticeship
at the Ward Museum of Natural History.
Professor Ward sent the young man to the 1893 Chicago World
Exposition to design a bird display for the government of Guatemala. His work
there garnered him the job of Chief Taxidermist at the National Museum in
Washington. Bull took night classes at the Corcoran Gallery of Art for seven
years, until he felt ready to pursue a freelance animal illustration career.
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Boys’ Life cover art, Apr
1932, by Charles Livingston Bull
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He illustrated more than 135 books and numerous articles for
magazines, including The Saturday
Evening Post, Life, Collier's, American Boy, and Country Gentleman. As exquisite as his
drawings are, he’s pretty much an unknown here, in his hometown.
Let me know if you’re interested in painting with me in Maine in 2014 or Rochester
at any time. Click here for
more information on my Maine workshops!
