Dinosaur Imagery: The Science of Lost Worlds and Jurassic Art - the Lanzendorf Collection - Hardcover

Lazendorf, John J.

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0124365906 ISBN 13: 9780124365902

Publisher: Academic Press Inc, 2000

Synopsis

The art of natural history is often both compelling and emotive, as well as emblematic of society's view of the world. This art reflects the messages that scientists hope to send to a general audience as a part of their effort to influence how public funds are spent in support of science. The art is the medium and the message. The public fascination over dinosaurs has been fueled by images that eloquently illustrate current scientific theories about dinosaur behavior, physiology, locomotion, and reproduction. The evidence for many of these theories is very good. The art of dinosaur depiction is firmly rooted in the processes of scientific inquiry. Because the paintings and sculptures that illustrate dinosaur science are so powerful, collectors vie for this art paying top dollar to acquire it and display it. One of the largest personal collections is held by John Lanzendorf - over 100 superlative paintings and drawings, 40 significant sculptures (bronze), many other small pieces, drawings, figurines, action figures, and more. Artists represented in this unparalleled collection are the best illustrators, painters, sculptors and movie-magicians. Key Features include: art from the John Lanzendorf collection - the world's best; contributions from 20 leading paleontologists - each have written a short commentary on a certain piece of art; eye-pleasing layout - full pages of art are complemented by an accompanying page of commentary.

About this title

Product Description:

Dinosaur Imagery
The art of natural history is often both compelling and emotive as well as emblematic of society's view of the world. Contributions from 20 paleontologists--each with a written commentary--are featured. This art reflects the messages the scientists hope to send to a general audience as a part of their effort to influence how public funds are spent in support of science. The art is the medium and the message.

Review:

In 1985, a Chicago hair stylist named John Lanzendorf bought a sculpture of a Tyrannosaurus rex on a whim. Fifteen years later, he had added more than 420 pieces to that initial purchase, assembling a collection that, paleontologist Philip Currie writes, "is the envy of many museums", and that one day doubtless will form the core of a museum collection itself.

Cataloguing only a portion of Lanzendorf's holdings, Dinosaur Imagery joins works by painters, animators, and sculptors such as John Gurche, Donna Braginetz, and Gary Staab with extended captions by paleontologists such as Michael Brett-Surman (Smithsonian Institution) and Mark Norell (American Museum of Natural History). The works of art range from the rigorously representational to the occasionally playful (but, fortunately, seldom kitschy), and there are some wonderful finds among them. The texts are revealing; it will come as news to many readers that the ancestor of the aforementioned T. rex may well have sported feathers (its posture, recent anatomical studies suggest, also resembled that of a chicken), that theropods hunted in packs, that sauropods travelled in herds, and that "the extinction of dinosaurs, although scientific dogma for decades, is now recognised as taxonomic illusion".

This well-made book is manna for fans of dinosaurs, and an ideal gift for budding paleontologists. --Gregory McNamee

About this edition

• Publisher: Academic Press Inc
• Publication date: 2000
• ISBN 10: 0124365906
• ISBN 13: 9780124365902
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 152