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Wilson, James Perry, 1889-1976

 Person

Dates

  • Existence: August 13, 1889 - 1976

Summary

After graduating from Columbia University in 1914 with a degree in architecture, James Perry Wilson worked as a draftsman for nearly twenty years until he lost his job during the Depression. He had no formal training and was largely a self-taught landscape painter with some early help from his family, who were artistically inclined. Wilson began his career at the American Museum of Natural History in 1934 as an apprentice under William R. Leigh, who was working on the background paintings for the Akeley Hall of African Mammals. Wilson developed many innovative methods and techniques in background painting, including a grid system for the transfer of an undistorted landscape onto the curved diorama background. By the time of his retirement in 1957, Wilson had painted thirty-eight diorama backgrounds at the American Museum of Natural History. His background paintings can also be found at the Peabody Museum of Natural History in New Haven, Connecticut, and the Boston Museum of Science. (source: Steve Quinn, Windows on Nature, 2006)

Found in 3 Collections and/or Records:

[Study for Black Bear Group]

 Item
Identifier: Art Survey No. 498
Scope and Contents

Swamp in foreground and trees, coconut trees in background, sky visible above and through the trees.

Dates: circa 1930s

Sun Eclipse by the Earth as Seen on the Moon / LL "JP Wilson 1940"

 Item — Frame: 1
Identifier: Art Survey No. 3
Scope and Contents

Painting of rock landscape in foreground, earth and stars in sky. Conceptualization of the May 14, 1938 eclipse, second version.

Dates: 1940

Sun Eclipse by the Earth as Seen on the Moon / LL "J.P. Wilson/1938."

 Item
Identifier: Art Survey No. 1
Scope and Contents

Foreground mountainous, park landscape / middle left sun eclipsed by moon.

Dates: 1938

Filtered By

  • Subject: Art Survey X

Additional filters:

Subject
Lunar eclipses -- Art. 2
Scientific expeditions 1