Click to watch the video: Drunken Illustration Book "Birds of the World"
When I saw Bird of the World, I couldn't help but realize that in addition to the American illustrator and naturalist John James Audubon, who was good at drawing birds, this Arthur Singer was also a master bird painter. Published in 1961, Bird of the World is a classic book on birds. The book is rich in content, including a wonderful representation of almost all the bird families in the world, and is accompanied by more than 300 color paintings by Arthur Singer.
Alan Singh, son of Arthur Singer, recalls his father: "My father has been painting and photographing birds for many years, and he is familiar with their habits and feels that they should be displayed naturally... He added light and shadow to his bird works and played it further, showing the living environment of the birds we often see. ”
Arthur Singer was born in New York in 1917, and he was inspired by the work of John James Audubon. After visiting the Bronx Zoo and the American Museum of Natural History with his family, he began experimenting with wildlife. Arthur Singer also loved jazz, and in the 1930s he met musicians such as the Duke of Ellington and American jazz singer Kebby Holloway, who drew cartoons for them and published them in newspapers and magazines with great success. During World War II, Arthur Singer, who had just earned an art degree from the Cooper Union, joined the army.
One general, noting Arthur Singer's extraordinary talent for painting, transferred him to a special unit, the U.S. 23rd Command Special Operations Regiment. For the next three years, Arthur Singh was there creating visual images to mislead the Germans. He and other artists used all kinds of stunts to deceive the German army, which was known as America's "ghost army".
After the war, Arthur Singer worked first in advertising before finding a career he really liked—becoming an illustrator depicting wildlife, especially birds. Arthur Singh wrote some of the most popular works in the 1950s and 1960s, including The Bird of the World, which sold millions of copies in the United States after its publication.
Cui Ying: Journalist, documentary filmmaker, columnist, PhD of the University of Edinburgh, loves walking and literature, likes to collect old illustration books from all over the world, and has published books such as "British Illustrators" and "British Illustration Book Collection".
Author:Cui Ying
Editor: Jiang Chuting
Editor-in-Charge: Zhu Zifen
*Wenhui exclusive manuscript, please indicate the source when reprinting.