Dinosaurs Past and Present (Exhibition)

Exist Dates

1987 October 9 - 1988 January 3

Biographical or Historical Note

abstract

Exhibition. Opened October 9, 1987 and closed January 3, 1988. Located in Section 4, Floor 1 in Gallery 1 at the American Museum of Natural History. Dinosaurs Past and Present, curated by Eugene Gaffney of the Museum's Department of Paleontology and organized by the Los Angeles County Museum of Natural History, provided a historical overview of dinosaur art and featured 140 paintings, illustrations, sculptures, and models of dinosaurs by 35 artists.

Summary

Dinosaurs Past and Present, curated by Eugene Gaffney of the Museum's Department of Paleontology and organized by the Los Angeles County Museum of Natural History, provided a historical overview of dinosaur art and featured 140 paintings, illustrations, sculptures, and models of dinosaurs by 35 artists. The exhibition included works by early restoration artists such as Charles R. Knight and Benjamin Waterhouse Hawkins as well as the works of 16 modern artists, many of whom worked closely with paleontologists (1, p. 1).

Highlights (1, p. 1-2):

*A gouache painting of a Triceratops herd forming a defensive circle against a Tyrannosaurus rex, by Mark Hallet, a Los Angeles illustrator

*A pastel of a herd of Maiasaura by Doug Henderson, who worked with Paleontology curator Jack Horner

*A 20-foot sculpture of an Allosaurus by paleoartist Stephen Czerkas

This is a condensed summary of the exhibition. For additional information, see Sources and/or Related Resources.

Sources

(1) American Museum of Natural History. Press Release. "Art and Science Linked in Dinosaur Exhibition." April 6, 1987. Departmental Records, DR 101. American Museum of Natural History Library.

(2) American Museum of Natural History. Annual Report. New York: American Museum of Natural History, 1987-1988.

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Related Corporate, Personal, and Family Names

American Museum of Natural History. Department of Exhibition.
Installation of exhibition (2, p. 5)

American Museum of Natural History. Department of Vertebrate Paleontology.
Related department (1, p. 1)

American Museum of Natural History. Gallery 1.
Location of exhibition 1987 October 9 - 1988 January 3

Czerkas, Stephen
Featured artist (1, p. 2)

Gaffney, Eugene S.
Curator of exhibition while at the American Museum of Natural History; Museum's Department of Vertebrate Paleontology (1, p. 2)

Hallet, Mark
Featured artist (1, p. 1)

Hawkins, B. Waterhouse (Benjamin Waterhouse), 1807-1894
Featured artist (1, p. 1)

Henderson, Doug
Featured artist (1, p. 1)

Knight, Charles Robert 1874-1953
Featured artist (1, p. 1)

Los Angeles County Museum of Natural History
Institutional partner; exhibition originated at the Los Angeles County Museum of Natural History (1, p. 1)

Related Resources

Agathaumas [art original] / Chas. R. Knight.
Date of resource: 1897

[Allosaurus [art original] / Chas. R. Knight].
Date of resource: [1907?]

American Museum of Natural History. Annual Report. New York: American Museum of Natural History, 1987-1988: 5, 60, 78-79.

American Museum of Natural History annual reports, 1902-2001.
"Annual Report Department of Vertebrate Paleontology July 1, 1987 – June 30, 1988": 15 [1988].

American Museum of Natural History Special Collections photographic drawers
Repository: AMNH Special Collections [Black and white contact sheets of exhibition in preparation, including unloading of exhibition material in front of the Museum, and exhibition on view]

American Museum of Natural History press releases, 1933-1990s.
"Art and Science Linked in Dinosaur Exhibition." April 6, 1987.; "Museum Programs & Exhibitions, October 1987." August 17, 1987.; "Museum Programs & Exhibitions, November 1987." September 11, 1987.; "Museum Programs & Exhibitions, December 1987." October 15, 1987.

[American Museum of Natural History temporary exhibitions posters] [poster]
Date of resource: [1975]-[2009]

Dinosaurs past and present / edited by Sylvia J. Czerkas and Everett C. Olson ; introduction by John M. Harris.
Date of resource: 1987

subjectOf

Dinosaurs Past and Present exhibition photographic slides, undated.
Date of resource: [n.d.]

Dryptosaurus [art original] / Chas. R. Knight.
Date of resource: 1897

[Eobasileus] [art original] / Chas. R. Knight.
Date of resource: [1896]

Knight, Charles Robert, 1874-1953
Includes Anatosaurus; Columbian Mammoths; Elasmosaurus; Hoplophoneus; Imperial Mammoth; Smilodon; T-Rex and Triceratops Family

[Stegosaurus] [art original] / Chas. R. Knight.
Date of resource: 1901

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