Form, attitude, naturalness of coloured parts, adjustment of wings, angle
of legs, centre of gravity, smoothness, neatness of finish, quality and
arrangement of natural or artificial surroundings. If your conceptions of
all these have the touch of the true artist and student of nature, your
work will be admired and studied by the most indifferent observer.
—OLIVER DAVIE, METHODS IN THE ART OF TAXIDERMYThe fine arts never respected taxidermy and never will, [Joe] Kish told
me. “If you take five of the best sculptors who ever lived and ask them to
sculpt something, you’ ll get five different results. If you ask the five best
taxidermists in the world to mount a white-tailed deer, aside from some
stylistic differences, they’ ll all pretty much look like white-tailed deer.
We’re trying to duplicate something that nature already created. It’s kind
of like medical illustration.”
—JOE KISH, QUOTED IN MELISSA MILGROM, STILL LIFE: ADVENTURES IN TAXIDERMYMARK DION: THE ANTI-DIORAMAWhereas cabinets of curiosities set the blueprint for the establishment of
institutionalized collections in museums around the world, dioramas
provided dramatized displays to maximize engagement. While cabinets
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DIORAMASPower, Realism, and Decorum