Akeley

Having started modestly with a neighbor's canary, Akeley went on to mount P.T. Barnum's prize circus elephant, Jumbo, devising a cunning wooden armature that was larger than life and then cutting the hide into pieces and stretching and nailing them across the form.

Wildlife Without Life Elizabeth Lowry 2011

The thickly seamed exhibit thus produced must have been grotesque; but in the taxidermic equivalent of air-brushing, Akeley redeemed this patchwork monster by rubbing a special gray putty all over it.

Wildlife Without Life Elizabeth Lowry 2011

The interesting thing about Akeley and most of the other people who participated in the creation of the dioramas is that they saw, as they traveled, the habitats of the animals and the incredible variety and beauty of the places they were trying to represent; and all of them were touched by it.

Lions and Tigers and Bears, Oh My! Heather McDougal 2009

Akeley is a gift to a biographer—a big-game hunting, glue-pot-toting Victorian who once strangled a leopard with his bare hands and boasted a record 566 animals killed sorry, collected during five epic African field trips.

Wildlife Without Life Elizabeth Lowry 2011

The taxidermy was beautiful and incredibly lifelike, thanks to the efforts of Carl Akeley, who developed a technique for insanely detailed and perfectly shaped taxidermy techniques.

Lions and Tigers and Bears, Oh My! Heather McDougal 2009

William R. Leigh, master painter in charge of the backgrounds in the African Hall, was hired by Akeley himself, and accompanied Akeley to Africa to do field sketches.

Lions and Tigers and Bears, Oh My! Heather McDougal 2009

William R. Leigh, master painter in charge of the backgrounds in the African Hall, was hired by Akeley himself, and accompanied Akeley to Africa to do field sketches.

Archive 2009-04-01 Heather McDougal 2009

The taxidermy was beautiful and incredibly lifelike, thanks to the efforts of Carl Akeley, who developed a technique for insanely detailed and perfectly shaped taxidermy techniques.

Archive 2009-04-01 Heather McDougal 2009

The interesting thing about Akeley and most of the other people who participated in the creation of the dioramas is that they saw, as they traveled, the habitats of the animals and the incredible variety and beauty of the places they were trying to represent; and all of them were touched by it.

Archive 2009-04-01 Heather McDougal 2009

Narrative interest is provided in the form of the life story of Carl Akeley, "the father of modern taxidermy," who pioneered the naturalistic habitat dioramas beloved of museums worldwide, and whose legacy lives on in the Akeley African Wing at New York's American Museum of Natural History.

Wildlife Without Life Elizabeth Lowry 2011