Description

The book highlights Jarvi’s masterwork African Menagerie, the massive centerpiece of the traveling museum show, completed in late summer 2017. Pictures are worth 1,000 words, and these inspiring wildlife portraits brought together in a massive mural awaken the world to the threats of extinction facing iconic animals on the world’s most magical continent – Africa.

Measuring 28 feet across and a full one-story tall, and connected via seven interlocking panels, Brian Jarvi’s painting includes more than 200 different African wildlife species, presented as if they are looking at us, the human viewers, seemingly challenging us to save this planet. Many of the species featured in Jarvi’s painting are, according to experts, expected to be extinct in the wild by the middle of this century unless humankind takes bold action to ensure their continued existence.

In oversized colour reproductions, African Menagerie brings the masterpiece home in an accessible manner. There are also reproductions of the animal studies Jarvi created, offering a glimpse into the work and mind of a creative genius. In addition, the book tells the story of the work, and tracks the evolution and unlikely journey of Jarvi–from once being a Duck Stamp artist to becoming one of the most notable wildlife painter of this generation.