National Museum of Wildlife Art to Premiere Two New Episodes of Bisoncast Short Film Series, Featuring the Carl Rungius Catalogue Raisonné

The National Museum of Wildlife Art (NMWA) will release two episodes of the Museum’s short film series, Bisoncast, on July 7, 2024. Bisoncast is an online video series that provides free access to the National Museum of Wildlife Art’s world-class collection. The films will premiere in the auditorium during the July First Sunday, every First Sunday locals can enjoy free admission to the Museum from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. The short films will be running on a continuous loop, with Spanish subtitles.

The episodes are entitled The Lost Painting: Carl Rungius Raisonné (Part 1) and The Rungius Legacy: Carl Rungius Raisonné (Part 2). In 2020, NMWA initiated the Carl Rungius Catalogue Raisonné project, with a goal to document all of the acclaimed artist’s finished paintings. The Museum holds the largest collection of work by Rungius in the United States and he plays a key part in Museum exhibits and programs. Formerly the Chief Curator of Art at NMWA, Dr. Adam Duncan Harris is the Grainger/Kerr Director of the Carl Rungius Catalogue Raisonné leading the project.

About The Lost Painting: Carl Rungius Raisonné

Who is Carl Rungius? For many people, visiting the National Museum of Wildlife Art was the first time hearing of this 20th-century painter, who has been called the “Father of Wildlife Painting” and the “Premiere Painter of North American Wildlife.” In this episode, viewers follow along with Dr. Adam Harris, who is trying to track down every finished painting and sculpture Carl Rungius ever made. He invited the Bisoncast team to join him as he follows a very interesting lead on a mysterious work of art.

About The Rungius Legacy: Carl Rungius Raisonné

The work of Carl Rungius is compelling to audiences today, but Rungius made quite a splash in his time too, even helping to shift the way that European and American audiences thought about animals, both in the wild and in art. In this episode, Harris returns to help the Bisoncast team to learn more about Rungius’ legacy—not just here in Wyoming, but in the history of European-American art.

Bisoncast is created and produced by the National Museum of Wildlife Art and directed and filmed by Mountain Mind Media. Bisoncast shares stories the Museum is uniquely positioned to tellーstories of the relationships between humanity, creative expression, and nature to support new ways of seeing and understanding our world and ourselves. Carl Rungius Raisonné Part 1 was generously sponsored by Lea Charitable Trust, and Part 2 was generously sponsored by Lea Charitable Trust and in Memory of Cynthia Quast.

Four years into the Carl Rungius Catalogue Raisonné project, Harris and Research Associate Melissa Speidel, report that the database contains 1226 entries (this number includes studies and illustrations). In terms of finished paintings, there are 736. “It is estimated that Rungius painted 12-15 canvases a year for much of his life, slowing down near the end. If this is the case, a reasonable estimate for a lifetime total could be 750 finished paintings. So, at 736, we may be close to having a record for each finished painting. However, while some of our records are full of details, some contain a black and white image and little else. The challenge at this point is to track down missing information and works we have yet to find,” says Harris.

Harris and Speidel are continuing their research, and a public call is currently open for submissions–any individuals owning Rungius paintings are encouraged to submit details to Harris for possible inclusion in the raisonné. The project will culminate with a touring exhibition featuring Rungius’s greatest works, premiering in 2027. The exhibit will help celebrate the National Museum of Wildlife Art’s 40th Anniversary. Along with the exhibit, the Carl Rungius Catalogue Raisonné will conclude with a substantial published catalogue and a digital resource on the Museum’s website. The Rungius exhibit is planned to tour through 2029.

To submit a work for consideration, please email Dr. Adam Duncan Harris at cr@wildlifeart.org. The Catalogue Raisonné project is generously sponsored by The Thomas and Elizabeth Grainger Family Charitable Fund and the Robert S. and Grayce B. Kerr Foundation.