A SCHOOL OF ANIMAL PAINTING AND SCULPTURE, 
IN THE NEW YORK ZOOLOGICAL PARK. 
By ERNEST SETON THOMPSON. 
Presented at the annual meeting of the Society, Jan. 11, 1898. 
A London Zimes art critic not long ago hurled at America the 
reproach that with all our glorious landscape, and our noble 
game animals so fast disappearing, we have not yet produced a 
great painter of wild life. 
To produce a great animalier we must have two things—ability 
and opportunity. Obviously an eagle cannot soar if he is buried 
six feet under ground. No one can say whether or not we have 
been persistently smothering born animaliers by denying them op- 
portunity, and the point is not worth discussing here ; but I could 
readily show that there is in this country a very wide-spread and 
growing taste for representations of animals. 
My contention now is for the giving of better opportunities to 
the would-be animalier.** "There come to our art schools each 
year young would-be animaliers whose art inspiration is founded 
ona love of animals, and who yet realize that there is only one 
road to art, z. ¢., through the schools. At present the schools are 
wholly devoted to the study of figures and landscape. They af- 
ford no opportunity whatever for studying animals. There is not 
in America to-day for the student of animals a single available 
collection of paintings, photos, books, casts, sculptures, skele- 
tons and animals such as are necessary to develop the animalier. 
Before going into details of his necessities, let me outline the 
career of the typical student, and, although a type, it is also a 
portrait of many I could name. He comes to New York or Bos- 
ton to get a good grounding in art. From first to last, all the in- 
fluences tend to push him away from animals. He looks forward 
to a chance when he gets to Europe. He goes to Paris. He is 
told that there is only one road to art, and that is by way of the 
*T adopt the European word as being brief, and covering the ground of 
all our clumsy expressions, ‘‘ animal-painter,’’ ‘‘animal-sculptor,’? and 
‘*animal-illustrator.”’ 
