Inspired by nature and his 60 pet birds, Hunt Slonem is known for his distinctive neo-expressionist style. He is best known for his series of rabbits, butterflies, and tropical birds, as well as for his large-scale sculptures and restorations of forgotten historic homes. Slonem’s works can be found in the permanent collections of 250 museums around the world, including the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City, the Whitney, the Miró Foundation, and the New Orleans Museum of Art.

Since his first solo exhibition at the Fischbach Gallery in 1977, Slonem’s works have been exhibited internationally hundreds of times. In 2026, Hunt Slonem’s bunnies will be on view for the first time at Art Cologne Palma de Mallorca. The bunnies, or “Bunny Paintings,” are the trademark of this internationally successful artist, much like Marilyn was for Andy Warhol.

Hunt Slonem’s intuition and his admiration for faraway destinations have been an integral part of his life since childhood. He was born in 1951 in Kittery, Maine, and his father’s position as a Navy officer meant that the family moved frequently during Hunt’s formative years, including extended stays in Hawaii, California, and Connecticut. As a young adult, he constantly sought opportunities to travel and studied abroad in Nicaragua and Mexico; these eye-opening experiences instilled in him an appreciation for tropical landscapes and exotic animals that would influence his unique style.

After graduating with a degree in painting and art history from Tulane University in New Orleans, Slonem lived in Manhattan for several years in the early 1970s. It was only when Janet Fish made her studio available to him for the summer of 1975 that Slonem was able to immerse himself fully in his work. His works were exhibited throughout New York, which bolstered his reputation and catapulted him into the city’s explosive contemporary art scene. He received several prestigious grants, including from the Elizabeth Greenshields Foundation in Montreal, the National Endowment for the Arts, and the Cultural Counsel Foundation’s Artist Project, for which he painted an 80-foot-tall mural of the World Trade Center in the late 1970s. He was also introduced to the Marlborough Gallery, which would represent him for 18 years.

As Hunt Slonem refined his aesthetic, his works began to appear in unique, context-specific spaces. By 1995, he had completed a massive, six-by-eight-meter mural featuring birds that spans the walls of the Bryant Park Grill restaurant in New York City. His charitable work has led to dozens of partnerships, including a wallpaper featuring his famous rabbits, designed specifically with Lee Jofa for the Ronald McDonald House on Long Island.

Slonem continues to draw heavy inspiration from history, using his art to forge tangible connections to the past. His popular portraits of Abraham Lincoln transform the historical figure into a pop art icon, and he is currently working on a three-meter-tall bronze sculpture of the French explorer Robert De La Salle, which is set to be publicly displayed in Louisiana.

Slonem’s most ambitious project, however, is his mission to save America’s often-forgotten historic buildings. Slonem recognized that too many of the country’s architectural gems have fallen into disrepair, and he felt drawn to these national landmarks, inspired by their age and beauty. His accomplishments include the restoration of Cordt’s Mansion in Kingston, New York; the Lakeside and Albania plantations in Louisiana; and the Scranton Armory and Charles Sumner Woolworth’s mansion in Scranton, Pennsylvania. His sixth and most recent project is Belle Terre, a historic estate in South Kortright, New York.