Hunt Slonem
Hunt Slonem is one of the most important figures in the art world with ties to Louisiana. Slonem is, far and away the most significant artist to graduate from Tulane University. Although you won’t find his signature on the front of any of his works, Slonem’s art is distinctly his own and instantly recognizable.
Slonem is critically acclaimed for his paintings of the natural world; he depicts colorful butterflies, bunnies, birds, and bayous. His works are featured in the collections of the most respected museums and private collections in the country.
Inspired by nature and his 60 pet birds, Hunt Slonem is renowned for his distinct neo-expressionist style. He is best known for his series of bunnies, butterflies and tropical birds, as well as his large-scale sculptures and restorations of forgotten historic homes. Slonem’s works can be found in the permanent collections of 250 museums around the world, including the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City, the Whitney, the Miro Foundation and the New Orleans Museum of Art.
Since his first solo show at the Fischbach Gallery in 1977, Slonem’s work has been showcased internationally hundreds of times, most recently at the Moscow Museum of Modern Art and the State Russian Museum in St. Petersburg. In 2017 and 2018, he will be featured by the National Museum of the Republic of Kazakhstan, the National Gallery in Bulgaria, and in countless galleries across the United States, Germany and Dubai.
His flair and admiration for far-flung destinations has been a staple of his life since childhood. Slonem was born in 1951 in Kittery, Maine, and his father’s position as a Navy officer meant the family moved often during Hunt’s formative years, including extended stays in Hawaii, California and Connecticut. He would continue to seek out travel opportunities throughout his young-adult years, studying abroad in Nicaragua and Mexico; these eye-opening experiences imbued him with an appreciation for tropical landscapes that would influence his unique style.
After graduating with a degree in painting and art history from Tulane University in New Orleans, Slonem spent several years in the early 1970s living in Manhattan. It wasn’t until Janet Fish offered him her studio for the summer of 1975 that Slonem was able to fully immerse himself in his work. His pieces began getting exhibited around New York, propelling his reputation and thrusting him into the city’s explosive contemporary arts scene. He received several prestigious grants, including from Montreal’s Elizabeth Greenshields Foundation, the National Endowment for the Arts, and the Cultural Counsel Foundation’s Artist Project, for which he painted an 80-foot mural of the World Trade Center in the late 1970s. He also received an introduction to the Marlborough Gallery, which would represent him for 18 years.
As Slonem honed his aesthetic, his work began appearing in unique, contextual spaces. By 1995 he finished a massive six-by-86-foot mural of birds, which shoots across the walls of the Bryant Park Grill Restaurant in New York City. His charity work has resulted dozens of partnerships, including a wallpaper of his famous bunnies designed specifically with Lee Jofa for the Ronald McDonald House in Long Island.
Slonem continues to draw great inspiration from history, forging palpable connections to the past through his art. His popular portraits of Abraham Lincoln reframe the historic figure as a pop-art icon, and he is currently working on a nine-foot-tall bronze sculpture of French explorer Robert De La Salle, to be displayed publicly in Louisiana.
Yet Slonem’s most ambitious project has been his mission to save America’s often forgotten historic buildings. Realizing too many of the country’s architectural gems have fallen into disrepair, Slonem has found himself drawn to these national landmarks, inspired by the depth of their age and old-world beauty. Among his accomplishments are the restorations of Cordt’s Mansion in Kingston, New York; the Lakeside and Albania plantations of Louisiana; and the Scranton Armory and Charles Sumner Woolworth’s mansion in Scranton, Pennsylvania. His sixth and latest endeavor is Belle Terre, a storied property in South Kortright, New York.
Numerous books and monographs have chronicled Slonem’s art, including Bunnies (Glitterari Inc., 2014), Birds (Glitterati Inc., 2017) and Hunt Slonem: An Art Rich and Strange (Harry N. Abrams, 2002). His studios and homes have been profiled in such books as When Art Meets Design (Assouline Publishing, 2014) and Pleasure Palaces: The Art and Homes of Hunt Slonem (powerHouse Books, 2007), among others. His latest will be Gatekeeper (Assouline Publishing), showcasing his reclamation of the Scranton Armory, and its transition “from arms to art.”
Courtesy: Hunt Slonem Gallery
Please Visit www.HuntSlonem.com for more information or to purchase artwork from the artist directly!
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"President Lincoln," by Hunt Slonem (2020)
Interview Magazine called Abraham Lincoln, Hunt Slonem’s Marilyn Monroe (a callback to Andy Warhol’s love of the iconic figure). Hunt Slonem paints Abraham Lincoln better than any contemporary artist, and this is an excellent example of Slonem’s work, featuring his brilliant bird cage cross hatching, done with the back of his brush. On Loan to the Louisiana State Museum and featured in Hunt Slonem: A Retrospective 2023-2024. (22x18)
Bayou Teche, an original by Hunt Slonem (2010)
An incredible example of one of Slonem’s iconic Louisiana Landscapes, this Bayou scene once hung in the yellow “Bayou Room,” in the artist’s personal collection at his home Albania Plantation on Bayou Teche in Jeanerette, Louisiana. On Loan to the Louisiana State Museum and featured in Hunt Slonem: A Retrospective 2023-2024. (20x24)
"Live Oak," a large, important original by Hunt Slonem (2010)
The Cover of the Exhibition Catalogue and on Loan to the Louisiana State Museum and featured in Hunt Slonem: A Retrospective 2023-2024. From the private collection of the artist, once housed in the bedroom of Lakeside Plantation, this rare and unique Slonem work depicts a Louisiana live oak, with Spanish moss on a typical south Louisiana Bayou background. Peering out from beneath the artist’s distinctive cross hatching is a Slonem orange background, typical in many of his most iconic works. (36x48)
"Bayou Teche," a large original work by Hunt Slonem (2004)
Featuring many of the artist’s best known subjects: butterflies, flowers, birds, and the spiritual figures, combined with the iconic cross hatching and bright colors that made Slonem an international name. This piece once hung at Albania Plantation on the third floor in the red room. Acquired from a private collection with full provenance. (45”x66)
"Peter," an original by Hunt Slonem (2016)
From the personal collection of the artist housed at Lakeside Plantation, this piece, titled “Peter” rabbit, is as playful and fun as its name. Slonem’s iconic heavy black brushstrokes creates a neo expressionist bunny that conjures pure joy in the eye of the beholder. underlying blues and reds are present in this work that add to the beauty of the silver and gold metallic. (18x14)
"Delicious" by Hunt Slonem (2019)
This Bayou Lorries piece features butterflies and an array of colors all joined together with a silver metallic background and the artist’s iconic cross hatching revealing the brilliant colors layered below the surface of this already stunning and incredible piece! (30x50).
"Bayou Teche" by Hunt Slonem (2019)
From private collection of the artist, featured in the ballroom at Madewood Mansion, this piece is stunning example of a twilight Bayou scene with dominant pinks, purples, blues, and yellow. The artist captures the Louisiana Bayou in a way few have in paint! (32x42).
"Evangeline," by Hunt Slonem (2015)
Named for Cayman's eldest daughter Evangeline, this piece, framed in an antique and ornate oval shaped gilt frame features a full bodied bunny in the artist’s unique manner featuring heavy black brushstrokes painted wet into wet, with perfectly carved whiskers and eyes created in the manner of the artist using the back of the brush. This piece was first featured in the artist’s home Albania, selected for its superior frame, and then was featured prominently above an antique armoire in the lilac bedroom at Madewood. (19.5x 13.5)
"Sevre Blue 2," massive original oil by Hunt Slonem (1998)
From the private collection of the artist, this piece hung prominently at Albania plantation from the time the artist purchased the property, his first Louisiana home. A massive and beautiful painting using heavily applied paint, manner of the artist, with a stunning blue background and bright multicolored butterflies with traces of gold metallic amongst the butterflies. (60x72).
Sarah, untitled, an original by Hunt Slonem (2019)
Named for Cayman's wife Sarah. From the private collection of the artist, chosen from the Bunny wall at Lakeside Plantation, from the artist’s 2019 series featuring bright underlying colors and metallics. (7x8)
Bunny, Theodore, by Hunt Slonem (2019)
From the private collection of the artist, chosen from the Bunny wall at Lakeside Plantation, from the artist’s 2019 series featuring bright underlying colors and metallics. Named for Cayman's son Teddy. (7x10)
"Lorries Bayou Biloxi" by Hunt Slonem (2015)
This work features Slonem’s incredible color palate, his iconic cross hatching, and his favorite subject: his birds. From the private collection of the artist at his home in Louisiana Madewood Mansion. (19.5x30)
"Cayman," oil on masonite, round, by Hunt Slonem (2014)
Named for Cayman Clevenger. From the private collection of the artist at his home, Albania Plantation, this piece was selected from the third floor bunny wall. The background is a soothing blue applied with heavy brush strokes, the with eye and whisker details created using the back of the brush by the artist. An iconic and incredible Slonem Bunny! On Loan to the Louisiana State Museum and featured in Hunt Slonem: A Retrospective 2023-2024. (12x10)
"Abraham," by Hunt Slonem (2011).
As featured in the Madewood Mansion, from the private collection of the artist, this piece, which is a large work on canvas featuring deep purples and five-way-cross-hatching, is an excellent representation of the artist’s pop and neo-expressionist Abraham Lincoln, a man with whom the artist shares a deep spiritual connection. (30x40)
Butterflies, by Hunt Slonem (2020)
This small original features and antique frame, created with underlying pink, green, and blue colors overlaid with metallic silver and gold, and painted wet on wet with stunning butterflies, all cross hatched to reveal the stunning colors underneath. A small but stunning example of the artist’s work! (8x10)
"Sky King" by Hunt Slonem (2018)
This diamond dust bunny is a large, incredible work by Slonem that is an excellent example of the artist’s work with a familiar subject and an exotic medium. This piece shimmers and shines from different angles, and Slonem’s think brushstrokes in blue and white perfectly capture the happy bunnies. From the artist’s personal collection at Madewood Plantation. (36x48)
"Margaret," by Hunt Slonem (2019)
As featured prominently in the artist’s social media, this piece is an excellent example of the multicolored diamond dust bunnies. This piece was featured in the entryway and greeted visitors at Madewood Mansion, the home of the artist. (8x10)
Tulane Greenie, by Hunt Slonem (2018)
This medium sized green bunny is from the Bunny Wall at Madewood Mansion. This piece is an excellent example of the artist’s incredible brushwork. On Loan to the Louisiana State Museum and featured in Hunt Slonem: A Retrospective 2023-2024. (12x10)
Blue Diamond Dust Bunny, by Hunt Slonem
From the collection of the artist at Madewood Mansion, this piece is an excellent example of the artist’s diamond dust bunny. The shimmer and shine in this piece must be witnessed in person to truly understand its beauty! (8x10)
"Silver Ascension" by Hunt Slonem (2020)
This incredible original features bright baby blues and royal blues exposed under the thick silver metallic applied to the piece in the artist’s unique application using the sgraffito method of cross-hatching pioneered in the neo-expressionist movement by Hunt Slonem. This piece was featured in the Blue bedroom at Madewood Mansion, the Louisiana home of the artist. This piece also features a large, antique frame from the artist’s personal collection of antique frames. (~23.5x41.5)
Elodie Clementine, by Hunt Slonem (2019)
This small but mighty piece demonstrates Slonem’s mastery of medium, color, and style, blending his iconic bright color palate with metallic silver and gold, with cross-hatched whiskers and his thick black brushstrokes that outline the magnificent and playful bunny! Named for Cayman's youngest daughter Elodie Clementine. (6.25x7.25)