Carl Brenders (born 1937) is a naturalist and

painter Painting is the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a solid surface (called the "matrix" or "support"). The medium is commonly applied to the base with a brush, but other implements, such as knives, sponges, and ai ...

, born near

Antwerp Antwerp (; nl, Antwerpen ; french: Anvers ; es, Amberes) is the largest city in Belgium by area at and the capital of Antwerp Province in the Flemish Region. With a population of 520,504,

Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...

.
/ref> The painter is most famous for his detailed and lifelike paintings of wildlife. Some of the artist's accomplishments include illustrations of wildlife for ''La Vie secrète des bêtes'', a book series (published in English as ''Nature's Hidden World''), and being named the 24th Master Artist at the 2002 ''Birds in Art'' exhibition at

Leigh Yawkey Woodson Art Museum The Leigh Yawkey Woodson Art Museum is located in Wausau, Wisconsin. It is best known for its annual "Birds in Art" exhibition, which exhibits contemporary artistic representations of birds. The annual exhibition has been held beginning the week af ...

in Wausau, Wisconsin. His art is the subject of the books, ''Wildlife: The Nature Paintings of Carl Brenders'',published by Harry N. Abrams (Aug 2004), ''Song of Creation'',published by Baker Books (July 2000), and ''Pride of Place: The Art of Carl Brenders''.published by Langford Press (June 2007), Thirty of the artist's works were a part of the major retrospective exhibition ''Artistry in Nature: The Wildlife Paintings of Carl Brenders'' which opened at the Carnegie Museum of Natural History in

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, Allegheny County. It is the most populous city in both Allegheny County and Wester ...

, and then traveled to

Cleveland, Ohio Cleveland ( ), officially the City of Cleveland, is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located in the northeastern part of the state, it is situated along the southern shore of Lake Erie, across the U.S. ...

Louisville, Kentucky Louisville ( , , ) is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Kentucky and the 28th most-populous city in the United States. Louisville is the historical seat and, since 2003, the nominal seat of Jefferson County, on the Indiana border ...

, and

Shreveport, Louisiana Shreveport ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Louisiana. It is the third most populous city in Louisiana after New Orleans and Baton Rouge, respectively. The Shreveport–Bossier City metropolitan area, with a population of 393,406 in 2020, is t ...

. Brenders shared his perspectives on God, beauty and art in his 1994 book ''Wildlife: The Nature Paintings of Carl Benders'', "I am not a philosopher, I just paint animals... If there is a God, He is in nature" and, "With all the ugliness in the world, I am thirsty for beauty." He also shared his father's perspective, "My father said before he died, 'Boy, all beauty is in nature.'" The acclaimed wildlife artist Robert Bateman has written, “Carl is, after all, from Flanders. He takes us out of doors and his birds and mammals are very much alive, but his art is part of that same great tradition. Carl is a Flemish master.” Carl and his wife Paula make their home in Antwerp. They travel yearly to America for fieldwork while attending the annual ''Birds in Art'' exhibition.

External links

Carl Brenders Wildlife Art
- official website

References

1937 births Living people Bird artists {{Belgium-painter-stub