Paris museum celebrates artists who documented Natural History
Summary and headline written by AI from the source article. How we work
At the National Museum of Natural History in Paris, France, an exhibition called “Artists at the Museum” displays over 300 works by more than 140 artists who contributed to the field of natural history.
The museum created the exhibit to mark its 400th anniversary and to recognize artists whose work often went unacknowledged. The show features taxidermy, paintings, and watercolors that document species and anatomy, showing how scientists and artists worked together to both study and depict the natural world.
The museum has offered naturalistic drawing lessons since 1793, and notable students included Auguste Rodin, Henri Matisse, and Marie Laurencin. Artists like Jules Terrier and Louis Quantin created dramatic taxidermy displays, such as a lion attacking an oryx, that then inspired paintings by artists like the Douanier Rousseau. Alice Lemaire, the exhibition’s general commissioner, noted that artistic approach is essential to natural science, yet these artists have not always received due credit.
The exhibit draws from the museum’s collections and loans from other museums.
