Christopher Klein

Wisdom Trumps Violence - Surreal Oil Painting with a Leopard, an Owl, and a Man

2018

Christopher Klein was a former illustrator for National Geographic Magazine. Klein was born in 1954, Washington DC. Klein spent 26 years at National Geographic Magazine. His career at National Geographic brought him around the world. He lived with people from Egypt to South America, studied history and artifacts of ancient times and delved into the intricacies of creatures like tarantulas and horseshoe crabs. His research transformed into illustrations filling the pages of National Geographic Magazine. In retirement, he is back to his surrealistic roots combining his love of surrealism with the breadth of his life experience. “Surrealism is a way for me to create my own world,” says Klein. “Whether it be an archeological recreation, deep sea representation, or a futuristic scene, my use of realistic juxtapositions proved to be my key to scientific art with the National Geographic Society. My ability to render in high detail and a vivid imagination are the prerequisites for creating accurate paintings of historic people, the places they lived and worshipped, as well as the inner workings of both animals and machines. After 26 years of scientific art, my work is now going full circle back to my fine art roots in surrealism, now reflecting realistic images in unnatural settings or unnatural images in even more bizarre environments.”