Prints and Original Art for Sale
Original works of art & high-quality prints. Please contact me with inquiries about pricing at jag246@cornell.edu.
CATALOG
Dinosaurs: A revolution in scientific thinking about dinosaur biology and behavior occurred in the 1980s and 1990s. John Gurche was on the leading edge of efforts to bring that revolution to the public through art. The major book that first introduced these new ideas to the public was Bob Bakker’s The Dinosaur Heresies with cover art by John Gurche. National Geographic Magazine followed suit with a major article on the new science of dinosaurs in January 1993, illustrated with paintings by John Gurche. And, of course, the film Jurassic Park put these ideas in the spotlight, with preproduction and poster art by John Gurche. Alexis Rockman, illustrator of Future Evolution and many other books, has said: “John Gurche invented what is considered modern paleo illustration. A movie like Jurassic Park could not exist without his work.”
Human Origins: Four times in the past fifteen years, John Gurche has been chosen to help introduce a newly discovered hominin species to the world by reconstructing a face for it. Two of these pieces were featured on the covers of National Geographic Magazine. The bust of Homo naledi featured on the cover of the October, 2015 issue is now for sale.
Daspletosaurus and Styracosaurus. The dinosaur revolution began when Yale’s John Ostrum discovered a very bird-like species of dinosaur that hunted with enlarged toe-claws, and realized that this would have required a more active life than those of today’s reptiles. John’s student, Bob Bakker, took up the baton and ran with it, marshaling evidence of a brand new world of dinosaurs. He put this evidence together in the book that brought the dinosaur revolution to the public, The Dinosaur Heresies, which he published in 1986. I did this painting for the cover, which featured the Canadian tyrannosaur Daspletosaurus facing off with the horned dinosaur Styracosaurus. I wanted to emphasize the bird-like aspects of the Daspletosaurus, which is shown with its foot in a birdlike defensive posture, and I gave it coloring like a black-capped chickadee.
In accordance with Bob’s ideas, I wanted very active poses for both dinosaurs, and imagined that standing next to a confrontation between such huge beasts would be something like standing next to a collision of freight trains.
Acrylic, 9 3/4 by 10 3/4 inches, collection of the artist
Ultrasaurus and Allosaurus. This painting, my first one commissioned by National Geographic Magazine, had some kind of positive Voodoo going for it. I had been knocking on their door for nine years without success, when in 1988 I was called in by Howard Paine, the senior art editor. “We want to do something about dinosaurs for a poster insert in our extinction article,” he said, “but we don’t exactly know what.” I described an image that had been knocking on the back door of my cerebral cortex for years, depicting a herd of the largest known dinosaurs viewed from up close. Howard said: “Draw it.” The art department loved the drawing, and Howard said: “Paint it.”
Over a period of five months or so, I consulted with experts and completed the painting. Three weeks later, I got the phone call: The painting had been chosen for the cover of the June, 1989 issue. It went on to win a gold medal from the Society of Illustrators. “Gee,” I thought, “working for National Geographic is so fun and so easy.” I’ve worked on eleven issues of the magazine since then. Often fun, but it’s never been so easy since.
Acrylic, 10 1/2 by 16 1/2 inches, collection of the artist
Saurolopus nesting colony. My second National Geographic assignment was a doozer. A revolution in the thinking about dinosaur biology had been percolating through the scientific literature, and had developed so much momentum that National Geographic decided it was time to bring it to the mainstream in the magazine. They wanted to do a major story on new findings about dinosaur parenting and other social behavior, with new evidence about metabolism, activity levels, posture and migration. Replacing the old scaled-up iguanas of yesteryear was a dynamic new picture of dinosaurs as active, intelligent, social creatures. There was evidence that some were warm-blooded. In their parenting and other social behaviors, they were more like birds than today’s reptiles. I did some of my best work for this issue (January, 1993), and this painting, one of five I did for the issue, made the cover. It depicts a colonial nesting site of the Cretaceous duckbill Saurolophus.
Also featured in The Art of National Geographic: a century of illustration, by Alice A. Carter, 1999
Acrylic, 10 1/2 by 14 1/2 inches, collection of the artist
In the summer of 1990, Amblin Entertainment left a message on my answering machine. I called back and asked: Amblin who? They told me that they were Steven Spielberg’s Movie company, and that he was beginning work on a movie version of Michael Crichton’s novel, Jurassic Park. Would I be interested in working on it?
This led to a great deal of fun, creating preproduction art for the Velociraptor and Tyrannosaurus segments of the movie (available as prints). They also wanted a poster image, and I created this one. There was a disagreement between Spielberg and Amblin’s marketing department, who wanted a logo approach that matched the cover of Crichton’s novel. Spielberg himself called me one Friday to say: “It’s a go. Finish that painting and it will be the movie poster.” I worked all weekend to get it done. By Monday, the marketing department had regained control, and it was never used.
Acrylic, 24 1/2 by 38 inches, collection of the artist
Barosaurus and Allosaurus. In 1991, the American Museum of Natural History installed its dynamic new 3-skeleton, five story tall dinosaur mount in their rotunda. They commissioned me to do this painting, a reproduction of which appears with the skeletons in the rotunda. The mount and the painting depict a long-necked mother Barosaurus rearing to defend one of her young from a marauding Allosaurus. The new mount opened to much fanfare and controversy (Could an adult Barosaurus really support its weight on its hind legs? One paleontologist said: “Yes, but only once.”). The painting appeared on the cover of Natural History Magazine in December of 1991.
Acrylic, 17 by 20 1/4 inches, collection of the artist
Tyrannosaurus rex. In 1997, Chicago’s Field Museum bought a Tyrannosaurus skeleton, nicknamed “Sue” after its discoverer, for 8.3 million dollars. Prior to this, she had lain peacefully in the ground for 67 million years, then was abruptly dug up and fought over by descendants of little shrew like mammals that had cowered in her shadow when she was alive.
The Field Museum contacted me in 2000 to commission a painting of Sue in life to go on exhibit with her skeleton. They originally bought only the reproduction rights, but since have bought the original painting. This is the only original painting I’ve been willing to part with in the past 39 years.
Acrylic, 10 1/2 by 14 1/2 inches
SOLD to the Field Museum in 2002
United States Postal Service dinosaur stamps. In 1989 the U.S. Postal Service asked me to create art for four dinosaur postage stamps (technically three dinosaurs and a pterosaur). I was already neck-deep in my first National Geographic assignment, and I almost declined. In the end, I agreed to create the art, but only if I could work very small, at a scale of 1.5 times the size of a stamp, instead of the usual scale of five times stamp size. They agreed, and the stamps came out later that year.
The stamps caused an uproar, because one of them used the name Brontosaurus, which had been formally replaced by the name Apatosaurus. Editorials were written about the deplorable state of our education system. Stephen J. Gould weighed in with an essay and a book titled: Bully for Brontosaurus.
The original paintings of Stegosaurus, Tyrannosaurus, Apatosaurus and Pteranodon are buried in the bowels of the United States Post Office (remember that room at the end of Raiders of the Lost Ark?), but I saved my scribbles leading up to the painting, and present them here for sale.
Graphite with acrylic, 24 by 36 inches, collection of the artist
In the mid-1980s, the Smithsonian asked me to create a painted scene of Deinonychus, the John Ostrum discovery that began the dinosaur revolution of the 80s and 90s. This scene shows three Deinonychus, thought to be pack hunters, attacking an iguanodontid. It was made into a Smithsonian poster, later featured on the cover of Don Lessom’s book, Kings of Creation, and has appeared in many other places around the world. Deinonychus is the dinosaur seen in the film Jurassic Park, called by the name Velociraptor.
I was moved by the very bird-like skeleton of this animal, and included the shadows of three birds in the painting. The scene would have been different if I’d done it today. Today, we know that Deinonychus had feathers.
Acrylic, 12 by 18 inches, collection of the artist
Herrerasaurus and cynodonts. This painting, also done for the January, 1993 issue of National Geographic, depicts one of the earliest known dinosaurs. In the foreground shadows are three cynodonts, about five million years away from becoming the first mammals.
Acrylic, 10 1/2 by 14 1/2 inches, collection of the artist
Edmontosaurs and tyrannosaur. This painting, also done for the January, 1993 issue of National Geographic Magazine, depicts hadrosaurs (duckbills) and a stealthy tyrannosaur found on Alaska’s North Slope, which was even further north at this time in the late Cretaceous Period than it is today. These dinosaurs were either adapted to the cold and dark, or migrated long distances as their relatives, the birds, do today.
Also featured in The Art of National Geographic: a century of illustration, by Alice A. Carter, 1999
Acrylic, 10 1/2 by 14 1/2 inches, collection of the artist
Stygimoloch. This painting, painted for the January, 1993 issue of National Geographic Magazine but not used, depicts two Stygimoloch facing off. Their odd headgear is interpreted as visual display structures. In a broad range of vertebrates, such displays often resolve a conflict before it becomes a fight.
Acrylic, 10 1/2 by 14 1/2 inches, collection of the artist
Pachycephalosaurus. When display fails. Two Pachycephalosaurus individuals, relatives of Stygimoloch, fight by head-butting. This painting appeared in the January, 1993 issue of National Geographic Magazine and on the back cover of The Art of National Geographic: a century of illustration, by Alice A. Carter, 1999
Acrylic, 10 1/2 by 14 1/2 inches, collection of the artist
Hypacrosaur mother and hatchlings. One of the revolutionary new dinosaur finds of the late 20th century was the discovery of hadrosaurs’ (duck-bill) colonial nesting sites. These included six foot wide nests with eggshells and skeletons of hatchlings. The biggest surprise came with studies of the teeth of these baby dinosaurs, which were already showing tooth wear! Either these hatchlings were leaving the nest to forage and finding their way back to it or, more probably, their parents were bringing them food until they had matured enough to leave the nest and forage on their own. Discover Magazine did a story on this in 1987 and commissioned a painting from me for their cover. This painting depicts a mother Hypacrosaur feeding regurgitated berries to her hatchlings. The head crest is interpreted as a display structure, like similar features that birds use in social display today. I decided that the most interesting view might be one from down in the nest.
Acrylic, 9 by 11 1/2 inches, collection of the artist
Australopithecus afarensis. In early 1994 National Geographic Magazine asked me to create, for the first time, a painting closer to our own ancestry, and closer to my own training (anthropology). The famous Lucy fossil had made her debut without her head twenty years earlier, and the new National Geographic story was about the discovery of the first reasonably complete skull (a large male) for the species (Australopithecus afarensis). Using the new skull, as well as a composite adult female skull and a child’s skull known for the species, I did 3D anatomical reconstructions of each, and used them for reference for this painting, depicting a social group in an open woodland setting. The biggest debate about this and related species was about locomotion. Everyone agreed that these creatures were bipeds, but were they also climbing trees? I wanted to take the issue head on in the painting, and depicted them doing both, as they begin to move out of the woodland where they had been foraging. Some of the no-climbing theorists among the experts weren’t pleased at the time to see climbing depicted. Current opinion is that they were climbing a sufficient amount of the time to influence their morphology.
Also featured in The Art of National Geographic: a century of illustration, by Alice A. Carter, 1999
Acrylic, 14 1/2 by 21 inches, collection of the artist
Australopithecus anamensis. In 1994, I got a call from National Geographic saying that fossils from a new hominin species had been discovered in Kenya by Meave Leakey’s team. The fossils were about four million years old, making them the oldest known hominins at the time. Would I like to go into the field with them as they went out to find more fossils? They envisioned me keeping a field notebook, with drawings of any fossils the team found. I told them; no, I’m too busy. Just kidding, I wanted to go more than anything. When I was a child, I used to see the Leakey family (including a younger Meave) in the pages of National Geographic Magazine, looking for fossils be day, and laying them out for analysis on a table by lantern light at night. I had thought: There is no better life than this. I gave National Geographic an enthusiastic yes, and started preparing my portable field art kit.
By the time I went to Kenya in early 1995, an even older hominin species had been announced from Ethiopia, so the Kenyan finds were no longer the oldest. They were, however, very exciting. They spoke of a hominin that was fully bipedal, but retained a lot of primitive ape-like features.
I flew from Nairobi with Meave and her team, up to a hot, barren area not far from the Ethiopian border, near the shore of Lake Turkana. Temperatures reached nearly 120 degrees Fahrenheit each day, and a strong wind was nearly constant. Without the wind it would have been unbearable. With it was like living in a blast furnace. I had to weight my portable drawing board, reference photos and drawing utensils with rocks on my outdoor work table. Dust blew across my drawings as I worked on them. At one point a strong gust picked up my drawing board, scattering the rocks, and sailed it into the coffee pot, tipping it over. My drawings and photos went zipping into the wind. Even with these challenges, this was one of the most inspiring experiences in my career.
Known portions of the skeleton that have been attributed to this species are done in more detail. In August of 2019, the discovery of the first known skull of this species was announced, and my reconstruction of it was everywhere in the media.
Acrylic and graphite, 7 1/2 by 10 1/2 inches, collection of the artist
Malapa. In 2009, Lee Berger and his son Mathew were prospecting for new hominin sites not far outside of Johannesburg, when Mathew exclaimed: “Dad, I think I found a fossil!” This marked the discovery of a new species, called Australopithecus sediba. The find was remarkable in that it included two partial skeletons, in contrast to the usual isolated bone more typical of early hominin finds. National Geographic sent me to Johannesburg to study the remains for clues that would allow me to reconstruct the new species for their introduction of it to the world. Over four months, I built a face over the skull of a juvenile male. I also did this painting of the death site. The NG art director and I did not see eye to eye on this. I wanted an eerie, quiet scene, where it would register slowly that we are seeing the remains of creatures that had fallen into the cavern from sinkholes, perhaps seeking water during a drought. He wanted more obvious drama: hominins shown falling into the cave. I capitulated, privately considering insertion of a spiky cartoon bubble that said “POW,” or “BAM.”
When this change was completed, the art director had another suggestion, which would have meant re-doing much of the painting and, more importantly, would have destroyed the composition; to move the stone pillar separating chambers of the cave out of the gutter. It would have meant moving a more significant part of the painting into the gutter instead. I tried to talk him out of it, and when he persisted, I just said: no. He removed the painting from the article. You can get bitter about this type of thing, but this time, there was, eventually, more of a sense of justice. Not long after he dismissed the painting, National Geographic dismissed him.
Acrylic, 10 1/2 by 14 1/2 inches, collection of the artist
This painting was also commissioned by National Geographic for their Australopithecus sediba article of 2011. It’s historical significance is that it was the first reconstruction ever created for the species, and was done in order to help National Geographic introduce A. sediba to the world. It shows Lucy (Australopithecus afarensis) and Turkana Boy (Homo erectus), with a juvenile male Australopithecus sediba walking between them. The transition from a species of Australopithecus to the genus Homo has long been one of human origins’ biggest mysteries. A. sediba was a very exciting find because of its unique combination of primitive and evolved features. In many respects, it resembles other species of Australopithecus (especially A. africanus), but it uniquely shares some features with Homo, suggesting that this species is near the branch of Australopithecus that gave rise to the genus Homo. All three individuals are reconstructed from partial skeletons, ranging from about 40% complete to about 90%.
Acrylic, 7 1/2 by 10 1/2 inches, collection of the artist
This painting, commissioned by National Geographic in 2014, shows, from left to right, Lucy, Turkana Boy and an adult male Homo naledi. The painting, plus a 3D reconstruction, were the first reconstructions created for H. naledi, and helped National Geographic Magazine introduce it to the world. The discovery of Homo naledi was remarkable for several reasons. Here was a form of early Homo that was very primitive in some regards (such as small brain size), but almost modern looking in others. The cave deposits in which it was found were difficult to date, so the team did not yet know how old the fossils were, but the wealth of primitive features suggested that it was at the base of the genus Homo. If so, enlargement of the brain, long considered the hallmark of Homo, was not part of the genus’ origin.
The find was of spectacular size; more than 1,500 bones were taken out of the cave, from nearly every part of the body. On top of that, the remains were found deep in a cave with a convoluted, difficult entrance. No bones of other animals, except for a few bird bones, were found with the hominin bones, an unheard of circumstance among hominin finds. After ruling out other alternatives, the team proposed that bodies were dragged into the cave, in an early (earliest?) example of a funerary practice.
National Geographic got very interested in this find, and sent me to South Africa again to gather information so that I could reconstruct it. Lee threw the doors of the hominin vault at the University of the Witwatersrand wide, and let me study the fossils every day until long after everyone else went home.
What emerged from study of these fossils was yet another unique combination of primitive and advanced features. You can see in the painting (and in the wall drawings behind the figures) that there are stark differences between the body forms of Lucy and the Turkana Boy. In some ways Homo naledi occupies an intermediate position.
Another big surprise occurred when a date for the find was finally obtained. It was only about 300,000 years old, not the expected nearly 3 million years old it should have been if it were the earliest Homo. It is too recent to be basal Homo, but may represent in its primitive anatomy a branch that split off from basal Homo early on.
Acrylic, 10 1/2 by 14 1/2 inches, collection of the artist
In 1997, I did this painting for National Geographic’s ‘Dawn of Humans’ series, as a poster insert. I wanted to capture both the physical and the cognitive sides of our evolution, including mathematics, our scientific efforts to understand our universe and our peopling of the skies with gods and astrological influences.
Also featured in The Art of National Geographic: a century of illustration, by Alice A. Carter, 1999
Acrylic, 22 1/2 by 36 inches, collection of the artist
In the autumn of 2013, over 1,500 bones were discovered deep in a South African cave, representing the new species, Homo naledi. National Geographic Magazine commissioned this reconstruction for the cover of the issue (October, 2015) that introduced it to the world. This piece is now available.
Silicone, with acrylic eyes and bear fur, life sized. Collection of the artist.
Neandertal male, from Lost Anatomies: the evolution of the human form, by John Gurche.
Chalk, 5 by 6 inches, collection of the artist
Australopithecus sediba adult female arm skeleton, from Lost Anatomies: the evolution of the human form, by John Gurche.
Graphite, digitally colored, 15 by 20 inches, collection of the artist
Australopithecus afarensis, from Lost Anatomies: the evolution of the human form, by John Gurche.
Graphite, digitally colored, 10 by 12 inches, collection of the artist
Bonobo left foot, from Lost Anatomies: the evolution of the human form, by John Gurche.
chalk, 6 by 8 inches, collection of the artist
The Lost Anatomies collection. This 27 year labor of love is a collection of 187 drawings and paintings celebrating the visual power of the evolving human form. The human form has been the subject of intense artistic exploration for centuries. Now that the human origins sciences have extended the field for such work by revealing the precursors of the human form, artistic exploration of the evolving human form is possible. The hands and feet, skeletons and musculature, and faces and heads depicted in this collection are just that. The collection has now been published as a book by Abrams Books: Lost Anatomies: the evolution of the human form. The previous four images are examples of the work.
This painting, created for John Reader’s The Rise of Life, depicts the Gibraltar skull, from an adult female Neandertal, in three time contexts: When fresh, possibly treated in a ritual way, when discovered in 1848, and on a modern museum table.
Acrylic, 9 3/4 by 11 3/4 inches, collection of the artist
This painting/drawing depicts Darwin’s “warm little pond” idea, accompanied by his letter to Joseph Hooker explaining it. It says: “…if (and oh! what a big if!) we could conceive in some warm little pond, with all sorts of ammonia and phosphoric salts, light, heat, electricity, etc. present, that a protein compound was chemically formed ready to undergo still more complex changes…”
Appeared in The Rise of Life, by John Reader, Alfred Knopf, 1986.
Acrylic with graphite and pen/ink, 11 by 14 1/2 inches, collection of the artist
The origin of the eukaryotic cell from symbiotic microbes. From The Rise of Life, by John Reader, Alfred Knopf, 1986.
Graphite and acrylic, 9 x 12 inches, collection of the artist
Early fossil cells caught in the act of cell division, from the Bitter Springs Formation. The Rise of Life, by John Reader, Alfred Knopf, 1986.
Pen and ink with colored pencil on acrylic-washed board, 2 1/2 by 7 1/4 inches, collection of the artist
A representation of the various lines of chemical evolution that led to the origin of first cell. From John Reader’s The Rise of Life, by John Reader, Alfred Knopf, 1986.
Acrylic, 11 by 17 inches, collection of the artist
Early fossil cells from the Gunflint Formation. The Rise of Life, by John Reader, Alfred Knopf, 1986.
Graphite, 4 3/4 by 8 inches, collection of the artist
Fred Hoyle and his theory of panspermia. The Rise of Life, by John Reader, Alfred Knopf, 1986.
Graphite and colored pencil, 7 1/2 by 8 inches, collection of the artist
Richard Owen was at one time the world’s leading anatomist and paleontologist, and it was he who came up with the word Dinosaur. To his dying day, he refused to accept the theory of evolution as put forth by Charles Darwin. During his lifetime, he watched as, one by one, his colleagues defected to the dark side, until he was alone. I’ve always thought his face in later years reflected the wear and stress of that experience.
Owen was a pious man, and it must have seemed to him that in working out his ‘vertebrate archetype,’ shown here, he was revealing an idea in the mind of God.
Drawn for The Rise of Life, by John Reader, Alfred Knopf, 1986.
Graphite with acrylic washes, 11 by 14 21/2 inches, collection of the artist
Phenacodus, a very early running ungulate. The Rise of Life, by John Reader, Alfred Knopf, 1986.
Acrylic and graphite, 11 by 17 inches, collection of the artist
Allosaurus and Stegosaurus. In 1995, the Denver Museum of Nature and Science opened its extensive ‘Prehistoric Journey’ exhibit halls. They commissioned this piece, based on one of their skeletal mounts, for the cover of the companion volume of the same name.
Acrylic, 10 1/4 by 18 inches, collection of the artist
The eukaryotic cell. John Reader’s The Rise of Life, by John Reader, Alfred Knopf, 1986.
Graphite and acrylic, 10 3/4 by 12 3/4 inches, collection of the artist
Brain Evolution bas relief using actual endocranial casts of extinct primates. Time is the x axis. Brain size is the y axis. John Reader’s The Rise of Life, by John Reader, Alfred Knopf, 1986.
Dental Stone, 29 by 38 inches, collection of the artist
Australopithecus africanus. As often happens, an idea about the origin of the human line was conceived independently in two places at once. The idea was that bipedal locomotion arose, along with a reduction in male-male competition, as monogamous relationships developed. Females and their young were provisioned by a single male, resulting in a sort of paleo-Flintstones nuclear family model. Owen Lovejoy, working with the team who named Australopithecus afarensis, was one of the theorists, and Helen Fisher was the other.
Cover art for The Sex Contract by Helen Fisher, William Morrow, 1983.
Acrylic, 8 1/4 by 10 inches, collection of the artist
Archaeopteryx, lacewing, and sauropod. Painted for Smithsonian Books’ The Rise of Life, by Roger Lewin, 1982.
Acrylic, 8 1/2 by 17 1/2 inches, collection of the artist
Eusthenopteron out of water. Fish began evolving adaptations to land life when it became necessary to leave a drying home puddle, and face the unknown in the hope of better water.
The Rise of Life, by John Reader, Alfred Knopf, 1986.
Acrylic, 11 by 17 inches, collection of the artist
Deinonychus, the dinosaur called Velociraptor in the film Jurassic Park.
The Rise of Life, by John Reader, Alfred Knopf, 1986.
Acrylic and graphite, 19 1/2 by 30 inches, collection of the artist
Diplodocus herd. The Rise of Life, by John Reader, Alfred Knopf, 1986.
Acrylic, 11 by 19 1/2 inches, collection of the artist
Neandertals vocalizing. This painting is designed around the question of language among Neandertals. There is obviously some sort of emotional vocalization going on here, but what would you hear if you could turn the sound up? Would it qualify as language? From Smithsonian Books’ In the Age of Mankind, by Roger Lewin, Smithsonian Books, 1987.
Acrylic, 11 1/4 by 18 1/2 inches, collection of the artist
Archaeopteryx, painted for National Geographic’s The Wonder of Birds. This creature is a perfect transitional form between non-flying and avian dinosaurs. It sports reptilian teeth, claws and tail, but with flight feathers and perching feet.
Acrylic, 7 1/4 by 9 1/4 inches, collection of the artist
All prices subject to change.