Maynard Fred Reece (April 26, 1920 – July 11, 2020) was an American artist based in Iowa whose work focused on wildlife, particularly ducks.
He won the
Federal Duck Stamp
The Federal Duck Stamp, formally known as the Migratory Bird Hunting and Conservation Stamp, is an adhesive stamp issued by the United States federal government that must be purchased prior to hunting for migratory waterfowl such as ducks and gee ...
competition a record five times in his life: 1948, 1951, 1959, 1969 and 1971.
Reece turned 100 in April 2020 and died in July that year.
Early life and education
Reece was born in
Arnolds Park on
Lake Okoboji in northwestern Iowa. His father was a
Quaker
Quakers are people who belong to a historically Protestant Christian set of Christian denomination, denominations known formally as the Religious Society of Friends. Members of these movements ("theFriends") are generally united by a belie ...
minister.
[ The nature of his father's work meant that the family moved often, and this gave Reece exposure to many different aspects of American rural beauty. "Growing up on the marshes of northwest Iowa, Maynard Reece began drawing and painting with pencils and barn paints. His seventh grade teacher introduced him to watercolors, and he decided to become an artist.]Des Moines
Des Moines () is the capital and the most populous city in the U.S. state of Iowa. It is also the county seat of Polk County. A small part of the city extends into Warren County. It was incorporated on September 22, 1851, as Fort Des Moines, ...
for work where he found a job in the museum of the Iowa Department of History and Archives. During his time there, he met Ding Darling
Jay Norwood Darling (October 21, 1876 – February 12, 1962), better known as Ding Darling, was an American cartoonist who won two Pulitzer Prizes. He was an important figure in the 20th century conservation movement and founded the National Wil ...
, Iowa's most prolific and acclaimed political cartoonist of the time, who became a mentor to Reece's burgeoning talent in drawing.[
]
Art
In 1948, Reece won his first Federal Duck Stamp competition. These are not postage stamps but rather stamps required for all waterfowl hunters to have in their possession when hunting waterfowl. He became a prolific and often-published artist. His illustrations have appeared in magazines such as ''Life
Life is a quality that distinguishes matter that has biological processes, such as signaling and self-sustaining processes, from that which does not, and is defined by the capacity for growth, reaction to stimuli, metabolism, energ ...
'', ''Sports Illustrated
''Sports Illustrated'' (''SI'') is an American sports magazine first published in August 1954. Founded by Stuart Scheftel, it was the first magazine with circulation over one million to win the National Magazine Award for General Excellence twic ...
'', ''Saturday Evening Post
''The Saturday Evening Post'' is an American magazine, currently published six times a year. It was issued weekly under this title from 1897 until 1963, then every two weeks until 1969. From the 1920s to the 1960s, it was one of the most widely c ...
'', ''Sports Afield
''Sports Afield'' (SA) is an American outdoor magazine headquartered in Huntington Beach, California. Founded in 1887 by Claude King as a hunting and fishing magazine, it is the oldest published outdoor magazine in North America. The first issue, ...
'', ''Outdoor Life
''Outdoor Life'' is an outdoors magazine about camping, fishing, hunting, and survival. It is a sister magazine of ''Field & Stream''. Together with ''Sports Afield'', they are considered the Big Three of American outdoor publishing by Money (m ...
'', ''Ducks Unlimited
Ducks Unlimited (DU) is an American nonprofit organization 501(c) dedicated to the conservation of wetlands and associated upland habitats for waterfowl, other wildlife, and people. It has had a membership of around 700,000 since January 2013.
...
'' and ''National Wildlife''. Moreover, he has published two books devoted to his own wildlife art: ''The Waterfowl Art of Maynard Reece'' and ''The Upland Bird Art of Maynard Reece''.
His art combines an accuracy of detail with a keen expressiveness of feeling. "Much has been written about the accuracy of Reece's artwork; every detail correct - feathers, position, wind, weather and weeds...These things are combined with a feel for color, a sensitivity to the moods of nature and the ability to dip back into the mental images of decades of outdoor observation to create a work of art which is much more than the sum of its parts."[
]
Awards
* 1948. Federal Duck Stamp
* 1951. Federal Duck Stamp
* 1959. Federal Duck Stamp
* 1969. Federal Duck Stamp
* 1971. Federal Duck Stamp
* 1972. Duck stamp design for the state of Iowa
* 1977. Duck stamp design for the state of Iowa
* 1981. Iowa Habitat Stamp
* 1981. Iowa Trout Stamp
* 1982. Arkansas Duck Stamp
* 1983. Texas Duck Stamp,
* 1983. Missouri's First of State Turkey Stamp
* 1983. Ruffed Grouse Society's annual fundraiser
* 1988. Arkansas Duck Stamp
Publications
* ''The Waterfowl Art of Maynard Reece''
* ''The Upland Bird Art of Maynard Reece''.
References
* Madson, Chris. "A Brush with the Wild: The Art of Maynard Reece," ''Wildlife Art'' (September/October 1997): 22-25.
* Van Gelder, Patricia. ''Wildlife Artists at Work''. New York: Watson-Guptill, 1982,144-161.
External links
Maynard Reece GalleryMaynard Reece: Iowa Wildlife Artist
Documentary produced by Iowa Public Television
Iowa PBS, formerly Iowa Public Television (IPTV), is a network of Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) member stations in the U.S. state of Iowa. It is owned by the Iowa Public Broadcasting Board, an agency of the state education department which h ...
{{DEFAULTSORT:Reece, Maynard
1920 births
2020 deaths
American centenarians
Artists from Iowa
Men centenarians
People from Dickinson County, Iowa
Wildlife artists