- By Jillian Timm
- Around Town
Print 
Charles R. Knight (1874-1953) was the most famous and important portrayer of prehistoric animals who ever lived. His work shaped the publics views of ancient life for most of the twentieth century.
"When you think of images you've accepted all of your life of the ancient Earth --cavemen, dinosaurs, woolly mammoths -- almost all of these images came from or were influenced directly by Charles R. Knight," explains Dr. Warren D. Allmon, Director of PRI.
Knight gave the world its first glance of prehistoric animals as they may have looked in life. His art defined the vision of life in the distant past, and inspired generations of scientists, writers, and filmmakers. Although legally blind, he saw further back into pre-history than any artist ever had before. His influence not only on science but also on popular culture -- from King Kong to the Sinclair dinosaur to Jurassic Park is unparalleled.
Knight's paintings have long been mainstays of exhibits in America's largest natural history museums, including the American Museum of Natural History, Chicago's Field Museum, and the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County. Virtually every dinosaur book published in the first three quarters of the twentieth century included one of his images.
The Ithaca exhibit will include some of Knights famous views of prehistoric humans, as well as reconstructions of ancient mammals, rarely seen dinosaur sculptures, and drawings of his daughter. It will be a rare glimpse into a world that is both artistically beautiful and scientifically significant.
Knight Kalt says she was drawn to the Museum of the Earth for this display of her grand father's cherished work because of the Museums focus on the discovery and exploration of the history of life, which encompasses the themes that Knight depicted in his art.
"I was very impressed with Dr. Allmon's work with the Museum of the Earth, having read the wonderful article in The New York Times featuring him and the Museum, she said. I researched the Museum and looked at its web site and it excited me."
"Conquering Darkness," made possible by Tompkins Trust Company, will include more than 30 paintings and drawings and 8 sculptures from the collections of Knights granddaughter, Rhoda Knight Kalt, the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia, and PRI's own collection.
A similar exhibit has been on display at the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County, but the Museum of the Earth will be the only East Coast location for viewing these works, and the Ithaca exhibit will include many works not in the Los Angeles show. It will therefore be one of the largest exhibits of Knights work featured anywhere in more than 20 years.
The Museum of the Earth at the Paleontological Research Institution (PRI), affiliated with Cornell University, is a major natural history museum located in the heart of the Finger Lakes in Ithaca, New York. Using PRI's world-class fossil collections displayed in a new state-of-the-art facility, the Museum tells the story of our planet, as preserved in the geological record, with an emphasis on New York State and the Northeastern United States. For more information please visit www.museumoftheearth.org.
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The Museum of the Earth at the Paleontological Research Institution (PRI), affiliated with Cornell University, is a major natural history museum located in the heart of the Finger Lakes in Ithaca, New York. Using PRI's world-class fossil collections displayed in a new state-of-the-art facility, the Museum tells the story of our planet, as preserved in the geological record, with an emphasis on New York State and the Northeastern United States. For more information please visit www.museumoftheearth.org.
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