Hunt Slonem

Hunt Slonem, born Hunt Slonim on July 18, 1951, in Kittery, Maine, is an American painter, sculptor and printmaker based in New York. The son of a naval officer, he honed his craft at Tulane University in New Orleans and later at the Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture, where he was exposed to artists including Alice Neel and Alex Katz.

Slonem is best known for large Neo-Expressionist oil paintings populated with rows of birds, bunnies and butterflies, rendered in thick, lavishly colored brushstrokes. His tropical birds are often based on his personal aviary, in which he has kept from 30 to more than 100 live birds of various species. Taking his cues from Andy Warhol's Pop art seriality, he uses repetition as a form of creative meditation that unlocks subconscious sentiment. He also paints portraits, particularly of Abraham Lincoln, and creates prints and sculptures.

An artist and collector, Slonem exhibits regularly at public and private venues and has received numerous honors and awards. His work is held in many important museum collections around the world, including the Whitney Museum of American Art, the Guggenheim Museum, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Bahrain National Museum and the Guilin Art Museum.