Walton Ford (born 1960 in Larchmont, New York) is an US American artist whose themes are almost always animals.
Ford studied art at the Rhode Island School of Design in Providence, Rhode Island and graduated with a Bachelor of Fine Arts. At first, he lived in New York City and later on, he moved to Great Barrington in Berkshire Country, Massachusetts where he still lives and works today.
Ford’s works of animals bear a very distinct style which is reminiscent of the 17th century. Especially the naturalist John James Audubon seems to have had great influence in his style. On a closer look, you can see all the elaborate details which are funny, bizarre or ironic and every now and then brutal as well. Furthermore, there are also subtle references and hints on the history of natural science.
The animals often show human traits because their faces are supposed to convey a spark of intelligence and that the consciousness is superior over the being. Walton Ford took his inspiration from old adventure stories, anecdotes and tales from the times of safaris and great hunters.
All of Ford’s works are kept in massive formats and are painted with aquarelle, gouache, ink and pencil. Even the cover of the new Rolling Stones album “Grrr!” was designed by him. If you happen to like the pictures by Walton Ford then I highly recommend the book “Panchatantra”. It includes plenty illustrations of his works.
Copyright: http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walton_Ford , http://matthewwills.com/2011/10/19/the-animal-escapes/ , http://albertina.at/jart/prj3/albertina/main. and http://www.art-magazin.de/kunst/31201/walton_ford
