Scarlet Tanager

Artist: Athos Menaboni (1895 – 1990)

Title: Scarlet Tanager and Foxgrape

Date: 1980

Medium: Oil on Paper

Size: 18½” x 23½”

Tradition: Study of Nature

The Artist: Athos Menaboni left Italy 1920 as a crew member on a freighter and arrived in Virginia in 1921. Menaboni moved to Atlanta in 1927 and married Sara Arnold, of Rome, Georgia. From their North Georgia home, Menaboni produced paintings of more than 150 species of American birds—mainly birds from the Southeastern United States, but many others as well. His works can be found in museums and private collections across the United States including the DuPont, Calloway, Marshall Fields, and Robert Woodruff collections, as well as in private collections in Japan, Belgium, Scotland, Italy and South Africa. His book, Menaboni Birds was named one of the best 50 books of 1950 by the American Graphic Society. He was a 1983 recipient of a Governor’s Award in the Arts.

About the Artwork: Menaboni developed a technique he referred to as his “undercoat method,” which used turpentine to thin the oil in order to paint in layers on the paper and give the feathers translucency, detail and depth. Tanager and Foxgrape was originally commissioned by Robert W. Woodruff and lithographed on his 1980 Christmas Card.

Last updated: 2/12/2020