ZOOLOGICAL SOCIL'n BULLETIN 



97 



STUDIO IN THE LION HOUSE. 

 raKc into which specimens are placed for study. 



THE STUDIO IN THE LION HOUSE 



Tillv rccfiitly-opencd stiulio in the Lion 

 House may fairly be regarded as a prac- 

 tical demonstration of the Zoological Socie- 

 ty's interest in animal painting and sculpture, 

 and its desire to promote those branches of 

 art. 



Like so man\- other features of the Zoo- 

 logical I'ark. this is an experiment. That 

 artists and sculjitors need and deserve better 

 facilities than previously have been available 

 to them in working from living animal 

 niddels. there can be no question. That good 

 facilities for work, and sympathetic co-(i|)er- 

 ation on the part of animal exhibitors will 

 stimulate the ])roduction of masterpieces in 

 wild-animal art is an assured fact. The duty 

 of every zoological park and garden t<i its 

 faithfiU ally, the artist, shoulil be openly and 

 cheerfully acknowledged. 



The precise ways in which a zoological in- 

 stitution like ours can best serve the ends 

 and aims of art is yet an open question. It 

 is lioped that the Lion H(TUse Studio will 

 prove to be an adequate and acce])table pro- 



vision for the needs of artists and art students 

 in connection with their work on the large 

 carnivores, and also many other animal 

 models that can be made available within it. 



Because of the fact that the studio idea was 

 so entirely new and untried, and also because 

 of the demands for the innucdiate completion 

 of the exhil)ition hall, several months have 

 ela])sed between the opening of the Lion 

 House and the opening of the studio. Every 

 step in and about the latter has been an ex- 

 ])erinunt. No sooner was one prol)lem 

 solved than another arose to take its place. 

 linall} , however, on July 9th, the studio was 

 sufficiently complete that the animal ])ainters 

 and sculiJtors of New "S'ork were invited to 

 view it, open anil ready for use. with a living 

 lion of the first rank as the first model. 



In 181)7. in a verv practical coinmunication 

 addressed to tlie Zoological Society, and 

 ]niljlished in its Annual Report, Mr. Ernest 

 Thompson Seton advocated the creation of 

 a school of anitiial painting and sculpture on 

 a liberal scale, established in the Zoological 



