Charles R. Knight

Charles R. Knight was best known for his work as a natural history painter, bringing prehistoric animals to life in the American Museum of Natural History, the Carnegie Museum, the Smithsonian, the Field Museum in Chicago, and the Los Angeles County Museum. Knight excelled at depicting living animals as well as extinct creatures. He loved big cats, lions especially, and was also fond of sculpting elephants. He was a member of a loosely associated group of artists who all worked under Carl Akeley at New York's American Museum of Natural History. The Museum is dedicated to collecting the work of this group, as it represents an important chapter in the history of American wildlife art. Other artists in this group are James Lippitt Clark, Louis Paul Jonas, William R. Leigh and even the greatly esteemed painter Carl Rungius.