A History of Painting: With Dinosaurs: A Christmas Quickie Review

Merry Chistmas and happy holidays everyone at Mesozoic Mind! Let me show you my holiday gift, which I was inspired by seeing on Twitter.

The book is written by noted palaeoartist John Conway, who as you may or may not know, was one of the creators of the Naishian style with the seminal book All Yesterdays (10 years ago, no less!), depicting dinosaurs as way more muscular and speculative then the more conservative depictions of yesteryear.



Painting with Dinosaurs proffesses to be the collection of an old art professor and collector Ernst Erstwesesn who sadly perished along with his collection of artwork of dinosaurs made by artists throughout history (suspiciously even before they were discovered, let alone so up to date). That last part is part of the joke of the book, a framing device.








All of the artwork in question is nice, the way it homages and mimics classic art, from Rennaiscance, to Kahlo and O'Keefe, to Pollock and Warhol. Art lovers will get a kick out of recognising which works are specifically homaged, not just the obvious Screams and Mona Lisas. it's a refreshing break from the rest of palaeoart, which is usually in the ballpark of realist with only a few differences per artist; the human-made elements are also translated well into the composition of each by using placed dinosaurs. There are also small insets between or opposite the panels of the dinosaurs in a way more realistic style, only differentiating by artist's own style. I will upload art itself after my family's holiday vacation, but I assure you it's all great.

My only complaints are that there's no epilogue to got with its forward, however brief, nor a bit where the paintings being spoofed are listed for clarity. I didn't even know the therizinosaur was spoofing Delacroix's Horse Frightened by a Thunderstorm until weeks after this review was published.

  • Accuracy - 10/10
  • Aging - n/a//10
  • Presentation - 8/10
  • Art - 10/10
  • Rereadability - 8/10

A History of Painting: With Dinosaurs is a good read full of brilliant artwork, worth your time.

Also, for the sake of it, check out Mark Witton's in depth commentary on the book, which brings up some fascinating points and topics.

Off for vacation now. Goodbye for now, and Mesozoic Mind will return next year!

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