Guy Coheleach: Wildlife in Art
October 11, 2019 – January 19, 2020
“The Last Waterhole”, Oil on linen
The Roger Tory Peterson Institute of Natural History (RTPI) is pleased to host Guy Coheleach’s acclaimed traveling exhibition for the fall and winter season, beginning Friday, October 11th. Featuring more than forty original works, the exhibition includes several new pieces created by the artist in the last five years. RTPI has previously hosted solo exhibitions of Coheleach’s work in 1997, 2003 and 2008.
In the introduction to the book Guy Coheleach’s Animal Art, Roger Tory Peterson wrote, “Guy is perhaps the most versatile and, in a sense, the most professional wildlife artist I have ever known, because he can paint in any medium and in almost any style…Although Guy can paint with equal facility, a kinglet, an elephant, or a striped bass, he is excited about the predators, the birds of prey and the big cats…”
Guy Coheleach’s paintings have been exhibited in museums and galleries from New York and Los Angeles to Peking, London, Nairobi, Tokyo and Johannesburg. His first one-man retrospective tour was in 41 museum exhibitions in 32 cities, from New York to Los Angeles, from 1991 to 2011. A second retrospective tour of Coheleach’s work started in Florida in February, 2018. Along with over 100 one-man commercial shows worldwide, his work has also been exhibited in the National Collection of Fine Art, the Royal Ontario Museum, Washington D.C.’s Corcoran Gallery, the White House, the Norton Gallery and the Newark Museum.
His paintings have received the Society of Animal Artists Award of Excellence an extraordinary eight times. This most prestigious honor is awarded by curators and professors of fine art from museums and universities across America. In 1983 he was awarded the esteemed Birds in Art Master Artist Award by the Leigh Yawkey Woodson Art Museum. He has received the Artists for Conservation Medal of Excellence and their sought-after Conservation Award. In 2012 he received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Society of Animal Artists.
“Lion Pair Siesta”, Oil on linen
Coheleach graduated from The Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art, and received an Honorary Doctorate from The College of William and Mary. PBS featured the artist and his work in Africa in a piece entitled “Journeys Of An Artist”. He was also the subject of two films: “Guy Coheleach and the Bald Eagle” and “Quest: An Artist and His Prey”. In addition, he has been the focus of articles in Reader’s Digest, Saturday Evening Post, National Wildlife, and Audubon, as well as numerous other regional art and wildlife magazines.
Join us at RTPI for an opening artist’s reception and book signing with Mr. Coheleach on Friday, October 25 from 5:00-7:00pm. The event will feature drinks and hors d’oeuvres with Bag & String Wine Merchants of Lakewood, NY, and Reverie Creamery of Mayville. This event is free and open to the public. Two of Coheleach’s books, “Guy Coheleach’s Animal Art” and “The African Lion as Man-Eater” are available for purchase in RTPI’s museum store.
For more information about Guy Coheleach and his work visit https://www.guycoheleachart.com/.
