The artist Hunt Slonem was born in Maine, USA in 1951. His father was in the Navy, so the family moved often. Slonem has lived in Hawaii, Virginia, Connecticut, California, Washington State and Nicaragua, among other places.
He graduated from Tulane University in New Orleans with a Bachelor of Arts degree in painting and Art History. Hunt Slonem also took courses at the Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture in Maine, where he studied and met influential artists from the New York area, such as Louise Nevelson, Alex Katz, Alice Neel, Richard Estes, Jack Levine and Al Held. Hunt Slonem refers to Alex Katz in particular as a big mentor and friend.
Another important artist for Hunt Slonem is Andy Warhol. He says that the repetition in Warhol’s work had a lasting influence on him, especially the Campbell’s soup cans and the portrait of Marilyn Monroe. With repeating a motif in his work again and again, such as the bunny, Slonem makes a reference to Andy Warhol. It’s like with prayer, so the artist. For him, repetition is a form of worship.
In 1973 Hunt Slonem moved to New York, where he has lived and worked ever since.
Since 1977, the work of American artist Hunt Slonem has been shown in more than 350 exhibitions in galleries and museums around the world, and more than 250 museums – from the Met to the Whitney to the Guggenheim – have included it in their permanent collections. The artist has since received numerous awards.
“Imagine swarms of art,” says gallery owner Frank Fluegel, “swarms of butterflies, birds and rabbits.
Many people think of his characteristic hare and butterfly paintings when they hear the name Hunt Slonem. But there is much more to this artist than that.
Hunt Slonem lived in the era of Pop Art. He knew Warhol and was part of the Studio 54 scene in New York. He is also passionate about historic preservation and has bought and restored numerous homes across the country – most recently Searles Castle in Great Barrington, Massachusetts. And in these homes, he has mixed historic French and colonial furniture with Warhol and Keith Haring artwork to create a unique exhibition.
Hunt Slonem’s studio is 40,000 square feet; it takes up three floors of a building in Manhattan. When you walk in, the entire front part of the space is planted with trees and plants, and you can hear the birds squawking. It’s like an arboretum. At one point there’s a 15-foot-long table with three or four beaver hats stacked on it. If you go around the corner, you see a room full of harps that have no strings. There are tables with collections stacked all over – one has a pyramid-shaped pile of red fez hats on it, another is covered in art glass, and still others are filled with hundreds of framed photos of him with presidents, princes and celebrities. He told me that he keeps these photos because he often feels like he’s living in a movie and needs to remind himself that these experiences actually happened. In addition to painting, the artist’s great passion today is collecting and buying old houses all over the USA. He lovingly restores the historic buildings and decorates them with his art. Every morning he starts the day by painting some of his famous bunny paintings. Rabbits have been portrayed by artists for many years. The most famous rabbit painting in the world is probably the rabbit by Albrecht Durer, who lived in Nuremberg.
The artist Hunt Slonem and his fascination with birds
The way he paints birds has developed in several phases. After his travels to India in the 1980s, he was inspired to paint with wet paint, a technique very similar to drawing with color. Then came the increased use of metallic pigments, which convey a spiritual, ethereal quality because they catch the light so differently. Thirdly, cross-hatching, for which he uses the end of a brush, sharpened to a fine point, to draw the markings of a cage over a wet painting. His most recent phase is painting over diamond-dusted surfaces. This is a new experiment and a new medium where the painting looks like a glittering diamond. Andy Warhol has already created paintings with diamond dust.
His fascination with birds began when he lived in Hawaii as a child. He became fascinated by them. Their colors, their shapes, their songs, their mystical qualities and their influence on the regions of the world where they live cast a spell over him. Over the years, Hunt Slonem learned that there are thousands of species of the same bird. They also have a very spiritual aspect. They are seen as messengers of the gods and are carriers of divine information. He lived with birds from an early age, and in the years he lived in New York, his collections grew. Birds are nurturable in his world and provide an inexhaustible source of inspiration. They have become one of the predominant themes of his artwork.
Selected Solo Exhibitions:
2024
Hunt Slonem: A Retrospective, Louisiana State Museums November 21, 2023 – September 30, 2024
2023
Kunstforum Wien, Österreich, 02.09.2023 – 22.09.2023
2022
The Art Museum Riga Bourse, Riga, Latvia European Union
The Siauliai Aušros Museum, Siauliai, Lithuania, European Union
Osthaus-Museum Hagen, Hagen, Germany
Venice Biennale, Venice, Italy
2021
New Orleans Museum of Art, New Orleans, LA
2020
Daugavpils Mark Rothko Art Centre, Daugavpils, Latvia
The Art Museum Riga Bourse, Riga, Latvia
Madison Gallery, LaJolla, CA
Turner Carroll Gallery, Santa Fe, NM
Exhibit by Aberson, Tulsa, OK
Miller Gallery, Cincinnati, OH
Harmon Meek, Naples, FL
MUSEUM COLLECTIONS:
Academy of the Arts, Easton, Maryland
American Banaco, New York, NY
Art Gallery of Nova Scotia, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada
Artbank Program, United States Department of State, Washington D.C.
Bahrain National Museum, Bahrain UAE
Bass Museum of Art, Miami, FL.
Bates College Museum of Arts, Olin Art Center, Lewiston, ME
Bergen Museum of Art and Science, Paramus, NJ
Birmingham Museum of Art, Birmingham, AL
Boca Raton Museum of Art, Boca Raton, FL
Borough Hall, Brooklyn, NY
Bowdoin Museum of Art, Brunswick, ME
Brandeis University Rose Art Museum, Waltham, MA
Alexander Breast Gallery, Jacksonville University Museum, Jacksonville, FL
Children’s Museum of Naples, Naples, FL
Chrysler Museum, Norfolk, VA
Cincinnati Art Museum, Cincinnati, OH
Colegio de Architecto, Quito, Ecuador
Colby College Museum of Art, Waterville, ME
Columbia University Libraries, new York, NY
Columbus Museum of Art, Columbus, OH
Coral Springs Museum, Coral Springs, FL
Currier Gallery of Art, Manchester, NH
Customs House Museum, Clarksville, TN
Danville Museum, Danville, VA
Daum Museum of Contemporary Art, Sedalia, MO
Davenport Museum of Art, Davenport, IA
Dayton Art Institute, Dayton, OH
Delaware Art Museum, Wilmington, DE
Delgado University, New Orleans, LA
Detroit Institute of Arts Museum, Detroit, MI
Drury Univ., Springfield, MO
Eastman School of Music, Rochester, NY
Evansville Museum of Arts and Science, Evansville, IN
Everson Museum, Syracuse, NY
Farnsworth Library & Art Museum, Rockland, ME
Ford’s Theatre, Washington, DC
Fort Wayne Museum of Art, Fort Wayne, IN
The Flint Institute of Arts, Flint, MI
Florida International University Art Museum, Miami, FL
Fundació Joan Miró, Barcelona, Spain
Grey Art Gallery, New York University, New York, NY
Guilin Art Museum, Guilin Guang XI P.R. China
Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York, NY
Henie-Onstad Kunstsenter, Hovikodden, Norway
Hofstra Museum, Hofstra University, Hempstead, NY
Housatonic Museum, Bridgeport, CT
Human Systems Technology, Baltimore, MD
Hunter Museum of Art, Chattanooga, TN
Jedco, Jefferson Parrish, LA
The Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art & Design of Kansas City Art Institute, MO
J. Patrick Lannan Gallery, Palm Beach, FL
Community College Museum of Art, Lake Worth, FL
Le Musée d’Art Haitian, Port au Prince, Haiti
The Von Liebig Art Center, Naples, FL
Long Island Historical Society, Brooklyn, NY
Louisiana Arts & Science Museum, Baton Rouge
Maier Museum of Art, Randolph-Macon Women’s College, Lynchburg, VA
Memphis Brooks Museum, Memphis, TN
Metropolitan Museum of Art, Manila, Philippines
The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Miami-Dade Community College South Campus, Miami, FL
Miami University, Oxford, OH
Michener Museum of Art, Doylestown, PA
Mills College Art Museum, Mills College, Oakland, CA
Mint Museum of Art, Charlotte, NC
Miro Foundation, Spain
Mississippi Museum of Art, Jackson, Miss.
Missouri State University, Springfield
University of Missouri, Columbia
Mita Corporation, Fairfield, NJ
Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, TX
Museum of Fine Arts, St. Petersburg, FL
The National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC
Neuberger Museum, Purchase College/State University of New York, Purchase
Newcomb Art Gallery, Tulane University, New Orleans, LA
New Museum of Contemporary Art, New York, NY
New Orleans Museum of Art, New Orleans, LA
New York Academy of Art, New York, NY
New York Historical Society, New York, NY
Newark Museum, Newark, NJ
Northfield Nt. Hermon School, Mt. Hermon, MA
Ogden Museum of Southern Art, New Orleans, LA
Ohio Wesleyan Univ. Delaware, OH
Olin Gallery, Roanoke College, Salem, VA
Oklahoma Art Center, Oklahoma City, OK
Orlando Museum of Art, Orlando, FL
Ozark Community Technical College, Springfield
Port Authority, One World Trade Center (Mural), New York, NY
Portland Museum of Art, Portland, ME
Pulitzer Collection, Amsterdam, Holland
Queens Museum of Art, Queens, NY
Saint Louis University, Cupples House & McNamee Gallery, St. Louis, MO
Saint Mary’s College, Saint Mary City, MD
Saint Petersburg Museum of Fine Art, St. Petersburg, FL
Samford University, Birmingham, AL
San Antonio Museum of Art, San Antonio, TX
Salt Queen Foundation, Southampton, NY
Sidney Art Gallery and Museum, Port Orchard, WA
Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C.
Syracuse University Art Collection, Syracuse, NY
Stamford Museum and Nature Center, Stamford, CT
Tampa Museum of Art, Tampa, FL
The Taubman Museum of Art, West Virginia, Roanoke, VA
Tennessee State Museum, Nashville, TN
Tel Aviv Museum, Tel Aviv, Israel
Telfair Museum of Art, Savannah, GA
The Contemporary Museum, Honolulu, Hawaii
United States Department of State, Washington, D.C.
University of Arizona, Museum of Art, Tucson, AZ
University of Maine at Machias Art Galleries, Machias, ME
University of Michigan, Art Museum Project, Dearborn, MI
University of Oklahoma, Fred Jones Art Center, Norman, OK
Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN
Vero Beach Museum of Art, Vero Beach, FL
Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, VA
Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, Richmond, VA
Von Leibig Art Center, Naples, FL
Wasmer Gallery, Ursuline College, Pepper Pike, OH
Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, NY
Wichita Art Museum, Wichita, KS
Wurth Museum, Kunzelsau, Germany
CORPORATE & PRIVATE COLLECTIONS:
American Banaco, New York, NY
American Bar Association, Washington, D.C.
ARK Restaurant Corporation
Best Products, Richmond, VA
Chase Manhattan Bank, New York, NY
Children’s Hospital, New Orleans, LA
Citibank, N.A.
Clifford Russell, Inc., New York, NY
Continental Airlines
Crummy, Del Deo, Dolan, Griffinger & Vecchione, Newark, NJ
E.I. Dupont De Nemours, New York, NY
Forbes, New York, NY
Forgman Co., Louisville, KY
Goldman Sachs Co., New York, NY
Hamilton Restaurant, Washington, DC
Hilton Hotels, Guam
HRH Headquarters, Washington, DC
Human Systems Technology, Baltimore, MD
IBM Corporation
Intercontinental Hotel, Miami, FL
Jewish Home & Hospital for Aged, New York, NY
L’Ermitage Hotel, Hollywood, CA
Loews New Orleans Hotel, New Orleans, LA
Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc., New York, NY
Marriott Corporation
Miller, Anderson & Sherrerd, Conshohocken, PA
Mita Corporation, NJ
NY American Telephone & Telegraph
Nieman-Marcus, Dallas, TX
Paine Webber, Inc., Lincoln Harbour, NJ
Pierce, Atwood, Scribner, Allen, Smith & Lancaster, Portland, ME
Primavera Systems, Bala Cynwyd, PA
Princess Cruise Lines
Readers Digest Inc., Pleasantville, NY
Relume Corporation, Troy, Michigan
Roger Ogden Company, New Orleans, LA
Royal Caribbean Quantum of the Seas
Saint Agatha’s Children’s Home, New York, NY
Sanco General Corporation
Silvestri Corporation, Chicago, IL
Simpson & Thatcher, New York, NY
Sonesta Corporation, Boston, MA
Takashima Corporation, Hawaii
TRW Corporation, Lyndhurst, OH
Tucker Anthony, Inc., New York, NY
UBS Paine Webber, Inc., Lincoln Harbour, NJ
U.M.K.C. John & Maxine Belger Family Foundation, Kansas City, MO
Zale Corporation, Dallas, TX
AWARDS:
2015
Russian Academy of Art Medal of Merit
2013
Louisiana Lieutenant Governor’s Inaugural Lifetime Cultural Achievement Award
2009
Stars of Design, Award in Art, New York, NY
2007
ARTrageous Children’s Expressions Project
1986
MacDowell Fellowship, Peterborough, NH
National Endowment for the Arts
1984
MacDowell Fellowship, Peterborough, NH
1983
MacDowell Fellowship, Peterborough, NH
Ragdale Foundation, Lake Forest, IL
1982
Millay Colony, Austerlitz, NY
Rotary International Exchange Student, Managua, Nicaragua
Elizabeth T. Greenshields Foundation, Grant for Painting, Montreal, Canada
Cultural Council Foundation Arts Project, NY
Artist Hunt Slonem at Home in his Brooklyn Studio.
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