Lot 906: Jay Matternes (American, b. 1933), "Golden

Jay Matternes (American, b. 1933), "Golden Eagles", 1978, oil on canvas, signed and dated upper right, 34 in. x 40 1/4 in., in a giltwood frame.
PLEASE NOTE: Provenance: Exhibited 1979, Bethesda, MD; included in the Morris Museum of Art exhibition "To Take Flight", April 15-June 28, 1993. Note: Sold to Benefit the Acquisition Fund of the Morris Museum of Art, Augusta, GA. Matternes is considered one of the pre-eminent paleo-ecological artists working today and is known and admired for his meticulous attention to detail. Often working closely with naturalists, scientists, and anthropologists, he frequently spends years researching a subject to ensure that the final result is as accurate as possible. For the painting offered here, which was commissioned in 1978 by the Morris Communications Corporation, Matternes produced fifteen small-scale preparatory drawings and a full-size charcoal prototype; these works are offered in the following two lots. A 1955 graduate of Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, Matternes' works are in the permanent collection of numerous museums, including the Smithsonian Institution, and his illustrations have adorned the covers of such magazines as the journal Science. The painting offered here was included in the To Take Flight exhibition held at the Morris Museum of Art, Augusta, GA, in 1993