[upbeat lighthearted music] - Now a look at the exhibition, Walton Ford: Birds and Beasts of the Studio, on view at the Morgan Library and Museum.

Born in 1960, Ford Lives and works in New York City.

Several years ago, he made a gift to the Morgan, of 63 studies and sketches that are being shown publicly for the first time.

[mellow music] Ford's monumental watercolors play with the perception of wild animals in the human imagination.

This exhibition examines the artist's working process, illuminating the importance of cultural and scientific research to his practice.

With drawings of animals and birds selected by Ford from the Morgan's Holdings, this exhibition sheds new light on a museum's collection from the perspective of the living artist.

[soft music] "Birds and Beasts of the Studio" opens with a selection of Ford's drawings inspired by his visits to the American Museum of Natural History on the Upper West Side.

To this day, he visits the museum to explore its archives, field studies, documents, and taxidermy specimens.

This reveals the extensive scientific research that grounds Ford's artistic practice.

The exhibition presents Ford's studies and watercolors that imagine encounters between lions and humans.

These works include a series that features the Barbary lion.

Now an extinct subspecies, the Barbary lion fought gladiators in ancient Rome, and was the inspiration for the MGM iconic "Ars Gratia Artis" logo.

[soft piano music] Also on view are compositional sketches from a series inspired by the escape of eight lions in Leipzig in 1913.

[soft piano music continues] Another series features the story of a black panther that escaped the Zurich Zoo, and spent weeks alone in the countryside.

In dozens of paintings and drawings, Ford visualizes the panther surviving in the snowy Alps.

On some pieces depict the panther from the point of view of Swiss villagers, others imagine the animal's viewpoint.

The end of the presentation features work selected by Ford from the Morgan's extensive holdings.

The artist's choices highlight his expertise in depictions of animals throughout the centuries, providing insights into the creative process in many of these works.

The selection features some of the Morgan's finest animal drawings, including works by John James Audubon, Eugene Delacroix, Dorothea Maria Gsell, and many more.

[soft piano music continues] The exhibition is on view until October 20th.