10 



AMERICAN MUSEUM GUIDE LEAFLETS 



The work of the taxidermist in a museum is supplemented nowadays 

 by that of the wax modeler, the glass blower and the plaster worker. 

 Several handicrafts, indeed, contribute to the finished exhibit, including 

 those of the photographer, painter and clay modeler. All these handi- 

 crafts have community interests and one is the supplement of the 

 others in the attainment of desired results. 



The composition of a group to be assembled must be built on photo- 

 graphic realism in a science museum where accuracy is one of the large 



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MODEL OF FLOWERING DOGWOOD IN THE FORESTRY HAL! 



aims. A bird group, for instance, with its painted canvas background 

 and real foreground must be based not only upon actual photographs 

 but on field notes as well, made by an artist colorist. Plants, sections 

 of shrubs, flowers and every significant detail of the immediate habitat, 

 such as sticks, stones, earth, grass and dead leaves, are collected for 

 the realistic foreground. A landscape painter makes the background 

 and the craftsmen strive to blend the foreground with this background 

 and thus bring the entire group into lifelike harmony. 



