Plan your visit. 225 Madison Avenue at 36th Street, New York, NY 10016.

Plan your visit. 225 Madison Avenue at 36th Street, New York, NY 10016.

Walton Ford: Birds and Beasts of the Studio

April 12 through October 20, 2024

American artist Walton Ford (b. 1960) established his reputation in the 1990s with his monumental watercolor paintings of wild animals inspired by true or legendary stories of dramatic encounters between humankind and nature. Fascinated by the perception of wilderness in the collective imagination and by the consequences of human behavior—from colonialism to climate change—for the future of wildlife species, Ford develops complex narratives that have renewed the genre of animal painting. This exhibition celebrates the gift from the artist to the Morgan of sixty-three studies, including detailed renderings made from observation in zoos and museums of natural history, quick compositional sketches, and small watercolors in which he establishes his color scheme. The exhibition also features a selection of animal drawings and prints by earlier artists, from Rembrandt and Dorothea Maria Gsell to Eugène Delacroix, Antoine-Louis Barye, and John James Audubon, selected by Ford from the Morgan’s collection.

This exhibition is organized by Isabelle Dervaux, former Acquavella Curator and Department Head of Modern and Contemporary Drawings, and Jennifer Tonkovich, Eugene and Clare Thaw Curator of Drawings and Prints.

Walton Ford: Birds and Beasts of the Studio is supported by the Alex Gordon Fund for Exhibitions, Thomas J. Reid and Christina M. Pae, Gagosian, Alyce Williams Toonk, and Bettina Bryant. The exhibition is a program of the Morgan Drawing Institute.

Walton Ford (b. 1960),
Study for “Verfolgen”, 2018
Watercolor, gouache, and ink over graphite
The Morgan Library & Museum, gift of the artist, 2019.213. © 2024 Walton Ford.

Selected Images

Walton Ford (b. 1960)
Study for “Verfolgen,” 2018
Watercolor, gouache, and ink over graphite
The Morgan Library & Museum, gift of the artist, 2019.213. © 2024 Walton Ford.

Walton Ford (b. 1960)
Study 2 for “Leipzig,” 2018
Watercolor, gouache, and ink over graphite
The Morgan Library & Museum, gift of the artist, 2019.230. © 2024 Walton Ford.

Walton Ford (b. 1960)
AMNH Coyote Study 2, ca. 2015
Graphite and colored pencil on beige sketchbook page
The Morgan Library & Museum, gift of the artist, 2019.188. © 2024 Walton Ford.

Walton Ford (b. 1960)
Study for “Ars Gratia Artis,” 2017
Watercolor, gouache, and ink over graphite
The Morgan Library & Museum, gift of the artist, 2019.196. © 2024 Walton Ford.

Walton Ford (b. 1960)
Ars Gratia Artis, 2017
Watercolor, gouache, and ink
Private Collection. © 2024 Walton Ford.

Walton Ford (b. 1960)
Study for “Augury,” 2018
Watercolor, gouache, and ink over graphite
The Morgan Library & Museum, gift of the artist, 2019.198. © 2024 Walton Ford.

Walton Ford (b. 1960)
Study 2 for “Augury,” 2018
Graphite and colored pencil on light brown paper
The Morgan Library & Museum, gift of the artist, 2019.199. © 2024 Walton Ford.

Walton Ford (b. 1960)
Study for “Die Ziege,” 2016
Watercolor, gouache, and ink over graphite
The Morgan Library & Museum, gift of the artist, 2019.208. © 2024 Walton Ford

Walton Ford (b. 1960)
Die Ziege, 2016
Watercolor, gouache, and ink
Private Collection. © 2024 Walton Ford.

Walton Ford (b. 1960)
Study for “Flucht,” 2018
Watercolor, gouache, and ink over graphite
The Morgan Library & Museum, gift of the artist, 2019.211. © 2024 Walton Ford.

Walton Ford (b. 1960)
Study for “Zürichsee,” 2015
Watercolor, gouache, and ink over graphite
The Morgan Library & Museum, gift of the artist, 2019.219. © 2024 Walton Ford.

Walton Ford (b. 1960)
Zürichsee, 2015
Watercolor, gouache, and ink
Private Collection. © 2024 Walton Ford.

Walton Ford (b. 1960)
Study for “La dernière image” (The last picture)
2018 Watercolor and ink over graphite
The Morgan Library & Museum, gift of the artist, 2019.226. © 2024 Walton Ford.

Walton Ford (b. 1960)
Study for “La Reata,” ca. 2010
Graphite on sketchbook page
The Morgan Library & Museum, gift of the artist, 2019.228. © 2024 Walton Ford.

Walton Ford (b. 1960)
Study for “Mvnera,” 2018
Graphite and white pencil on light brown paper
The Morgan Library & Museum, gift of the artist, 2019.231. © 2024 Walton Ford.

Walton Ford (b. 1960)
Study 2 for “Neues Rathaus,” 2019
Graphite and white pencil on beige sketchbook page
The Morgan Library & Museum, gift of the artist, 2019.234. © 2024 Walton Ford.

Walton Ford (b. 1960)
Study for “Siegesdenkmal,” 2019
Watercolor, gouache, and ink over graphite
The Morgan Library & Museum, gift of the artist, 2019.239. © 2024 Walton Ford.

Walton Ford (b. 1960)
Study 2 for “The Tigress,” 2013
Graphite on sketchbook page
The Morgan Library & Museum, gift of the artist, 2019.244. © 2024 Walton Ford.

Dorothea Maria Gsell
German, 1678–1743
Heron Encircled by a Snake, with a Worm in His Bill, ca. 1700–1710
Watercolor and gouache, with selectively applied gum arabic, on vellum
The Morgan Library & Museum, Purchased as the gift of Mrs. Landon K. Thorne Jr. in memory of Landon K. Thorne Jr; 1980.43.

The Elephant Dalbādal Chasing His Trainer
Rajasthan, India, ca. 1750
Opaque watercolor on card
The Morgan Library & Museum, Gift of Paul F. Walter, 1979; MS M.1006.

Thomas Pennant
British, 1726–1798
Eel, ca. 1769
Watercolor and gouache, with gum arabic glazes, over graphite
The Morgan Library & Museum, Gift of Henry S. Morgan; 1961.6:6.

Nicolas Hüet
French, 1770 –1828
Study of the Giraffe Given to Charles X by the Viceroy of Egypt, 1827
Watercolor and gouache, over black chalk.
The Morgan Library & Museum, Purchased on the Sunny Crawford von Bü low Fund 1978, 1994.1.

Eugène Delacroix
French, 1798–1863
Studies of a Cat, 1830s
Pen and brown ink and wash
Thaw Collection, The Morgan Library & Museum, 2017.69.

John James Audubon
French American, 1785–1851
Eastern Gray Squirrel, 1841
Watercolor and graphite with gouache on cream paper
The Morgan Library & Museum, Purchased by Pierpont Morgan in 1910; 1976.12:2.

Antoine-Louis Barye
French, 1796 –1875
Lion in Repose in a Landscape, 1850s
Watercolor over black chalk
The Morgan Library & Museum, Bequest of John S. Thacher; 1985.32.

Gallery Images