Bonhams has announced that an important Dinotopia painting by James Gurney will be included in its June auction of 20th century Illustration Art (Gurney's piece is at lower right, above).
"Festival Day," illustration for Dinotopia: Journey to Chandara (Kansas City, Mo: Andrews McNeel Pub, 2007).
Oil on 100% rag illustration board. Signed lower left.
Matted and framed.
27.5 x 44.5cm (10 13/16 x 17 1/2in).
This major painting for the bestseller Dinotopia: Journey to Chandara is the first to be auctioned in the United States. It was part of a traveling exhibition that toured the U.S., the U.K., France and Switzerland. It depicts an outdoor festival in the village of Jorotongo on the lost continent of Dinotopia. Children play lawn bowling and circle games, singers belt out madrigals near an Einiosaurus, and a Stegosaurus awaits a game of "bucktail," where he tosses teenagers into haystacks from his spike tail. To the left, a banquet is held for the adults. Many people from Gurney's small town in the Hudson Valley joined in to pose for this scene, and Gurney based the vegetation and architecture on the islands in the South Pacific.
PUBLICATION HISTORY
Dinotopia: Journey to Chandara, (Andrews McMeel, Kansas City, USA, 2007, page 132.)
Dinotopia: Un Voyage À Chandara Fleurus, (Paris, 2008).
In addition, the work has been published in Bulgarian, Estonian, Czech, Greek, Polish, Hungarian, and Romanian editions of Dinotopia: Journey to Chandara.
EXHIBITION HISTORY
3 November to 27 January, 2008. Return to Dinotopia. Oshkosh Public Museum, Oshkosh, Wisconsin.
4 October to 8 March, 2009. “Retour à Dinotopia.” Maison d’Ailleurs, Musée de la science-fiction, de l’utopie et des voyages extraordinaires, Yverdon-les-Baines, Switzerland. www.ailleurs.ch
22 May to October, 2008. “Journey to Dinotopia.” Centre for Life, Times Square, Newcastle upon Tyne, UK. www.life.org.uk
28 October to 1 November, 2008. “Utopiales Festival.” Cité Internationale des Congrès, Nantes Métropole. www.utopiales.org
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