Review of paleoart by Julius Csotonyi
Darwinian drama from Titan Books
And so the new book that shows the extraordinary talent of Julius Csotonyi arrives at our offices and we have given ourselves the task of writing a review. This may be a new publication from Titan Books, but we are very familiar with the artwork. Visitors to such prestigious establishments as the Royal Tyrrell Museum (Alberta, Canada), the Houston Museum of Natural Science, and the Los Angeles County Museum of Natural History have also seen digital representations of Julius Csotonyi. He has been commissioned numerous times to create dioramas and prehistoric scenes to help bring museum exhibits to life, literally putting meat on the bones of long-extinct creatures, and helping visitors learn more about prehistoric life than once before. roamed our planet or swam in ancient seas on Earth. Fossils are the remains of extinct animals preserved for scientists to study, it is artists like Mr. Csotonyi who are given the job of bringing back these long-dead organisms and displaying them as living, breathing animals.
The paleoart of Julius Csotonyi
This book contains several of the most famous and well-known illustrations and aims to give the reader an idea of the motivation and creative style that allows the artist to imagine and recreate such amazing and detailed images of animals from the past. The full title of this publication is “The Palaeoart of Julius Csotonyi: Dinosaurs, Saber-Tooths, and Beyond”, although there is a strong bias towards illustrations of Mesozoic vertebrates, especially Dinosauria.
Presented by geological eras
After a brief introduction by Dr. DC Evans of the Royal Ontario Museum and a foreword by Dr. Robert Bakker describing how Julius, with his scientific background (he studied microbiology), is able to capture moments from prehistory with his artwork , there is a long interview with the artist. Under the title “In conversation”, the artist’s early inspirations and his progression to become one of the most outstanding paleoartists are traced. The remainder of the book is devoted to showcasing the vivid illustrations and digital artwork that now adorn some of the world’s most prestigious natural history museums. The book follows a loose chronological order beginning with the Paleozoic Era, then progressing into the Mesozoic before concluding with some of Julius Csotonyi’s illustrations inspired by Cenozoic life. Most of the book is devoted to illustrating Mesozoic creatures. However, within each section, the animal layout and subject areas are not in chronological order. You can expect to find a dramatic recreation of a flooded Devonian forest complete with battling placoderms against a mural depicting the Permian mass extinction event.
Fantastic prehistoric images
The star of this book is obviously the artwork. Text is kept to a minimum except for cursory explanations of image content and a few notes related to the images themselves. There are special reports on prehistoric animals that have been commissioned as part of a larger work. For example, the artist analyzes the scientific evidence that was used to recreate his image of Tiktaalik, one of the first tetrapods. There’s also a special feature on the Chinese feathered dinosaur Guanlong, plus some exquisite drawings and digital artwork as the fossil evidence comes to life.
dinosaurs are the stars
Whether because of its size or scale, or perhaps because dinosaur galleries tend to be the most popular areas of natural history museums, the book features many dinosaur illustrations. This book contains a wide variety of different types of dinosaurs, from a beautiful montage of the horns and frills of the Ceratopsidae to dioramas featuring fearsome tyrannosaurs. In the book, there are a number of fold-out sections that, when unfolded, show a full mural that Julius has painted. These beautiful illustrations allowed the reader to appreciate some of the size and magnitude of the individual commissions. Fossils come to life as the animals themselves and their environment are depicted.
Concluding with the Cenozoic
The book concludes with a section devoted to illustrations of prehistoric mammals from the Cenozoic. There are highly detailed digital images of giant Arctic camels, ancient whales, and the saber-toothed cats promised in the full title. This part of the book also contains some beautiful pencil drawings of ancient mammoths, mastodons, and ungulates. The 156 pages are very much devoted to highlighting Julius Csotonyi’s often impressive artwork, however there is a helpful glossary at the back along with a geological time scale that helps put the illustrations in context.
Would we recommend this publication?
Since Julius first started serious scientific illustration in 1998, he has been regarded as one of the foremost in his field. He combines scientific knowledge with a vivid imagination to create stunning visual masterpieces. This book is highly recommended as it celebrates his artwork, especially that created in the digital medium, and dinosaur fans, scientists, and art lovers in general will enjoy flipping through the brilliant pages of it.
