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 Carl Brenders
Carl Brenders’ love for all
creatures, from the friendly to the ferocious, is evident in his
masterful attention to their every detail; nothing is
overlooked. With his imagination, Brenders is able to get close
enough to wild animals so that he can almost feel their
textures. Consequently, his work has a tactile reality, giving
us the sense of having been where even the most intrepid of
field guides have not ventured. Of this ability Brenders says,
"A painter is a privileged being, because in his imagination he
can come very close to the animals he paints. In reality, one
can never come this close to wild animals, particularly if they
are predators."Brenders' insistence on
anatomical perfection in his paintings stems from his philosophy
that nature, itself, is perfection: "That is why I paint the way
I do with so much detail and so much realism — I want to capture
that perfection," he says.
Born near Antwerp, Belgium, Brenders has drawn
since childhood. He studied at the Fine Arts Academy in Antwerp
and later at Berchem. He produced wildlife illustrations for a
series of books entitled The Secret Life of Animals.
Honored as the 24th Master Artist at the prestigious 2002 "Birds
in Art" Exhibition at Leigh Yawkey Woodson Art Museum in Wausau,
Wisconsin, Brenders' work is regularly exhibited at the Museum.
His art is the subject of the critically acclaimed book,
Wildlife: The Nature Paintings of Carl Brenders (now
out-of-print), published by Harry N. Abrams in association with
Mill Pond Press. A major retrospective exhibition of 30 of his
works, entitled "Artistry in Nature: The Wildlife Paintings of
Carl Brenders," opened at the Carnegie Museum of Natural History
in Pittsburgh, PA, before traveling to Cleveland, OH;
Louisville, KY and Shreveport, LA.
The wildlife images of Brenders' art are first
created from pencil sketches; from these sketches his mixed
media paintings of watercolor and gouache are completed with a
technique he has developed during the last 25 years. His
paintings, encompassing every intricacy of nature, devote equal
attention to the detail of the wildlife subject and its habitat
as well as to the mood created by the light.
An intense man who sees minutia that escapes
the average viewer, Brenders’ art allows us to see what he sees,
exactly as he sees it — in comparison, everything else
seems out of focus. We at The Compleat Naturalist were
honored to have Carl Brenders visit our Gallery several years
ago. He remains one of our favorite artists. From
our perspective as naturalists, we consider Brenders' work to be
unrivaled with its attention to detail, down to the smallest
hair, feather, or blade of grass. It is truly
awe-inspiring. Click here to view
Brenders work currently
on display in our gallery. |
