Peter Schouten was born in Sydney, Australia. From a very early age he developed a passion for all things feathered, furred and scaled – from both present and past - which led to a budding career in palaeontology. His first artistic reconstructions in this field, when presented to the Australian Museum, were subsequently published by them as the book ‘Prehistoric Animals of Australia’. The success of this book led to employment as a technical illustrator within the school of zoology at the University of New South Wales. After several years he left this post to commence his career as a freelance wildlife  artist – a career which to date has encompassed many books and  exhibitions. One of his most recent commissions, the so-called Hobbit, received significant attention when it featured on the front page of most newspapers around the globe in October, 2004. 

His commitment to his craft continues unabated, and he particularly delights in painting creatures that either cannot or have not been photographed, due to extinction or rarity. It is also his aim to draw attention to the unfortunate plight of many of these creatures and to emphasise the need for urgent conservation. This was essentially the premise of his recent books ‘A Gap in Nature’ and ‘Astonishing Animals’, which for many provided the first, startling images of these wonderful animals, either lost or rare. Continuing in this vein, he has recently completed work on a new collection which challenges all of our preconceived images of those truly colossal animals of the past – the dinosaurs. This book, entitled  'Feathered Dinosaurs - The Origin of Birds'  was published in May, 2008, by CSIRO Publishing. It was published in North America by Oxford University Press (America) in September, 2008, and is still currently in print.  This is to be followed in the latter half of 2010 by the publication of the provsionally entitled 'Gliding Mammals of the World' (S. Jackson & P. Schouten), which will be a beautifully illustrated and comprehensive monograph of all  gliding mammals.

Currently  in production is another collaboration with Professor Dr Tim Flannery, which will be a continuation of the themes explored in the popular 'A Gap In Nature' .

Peter Schouten is a self taught and trained artist. His preferred media are watercolour, gouache and acrylics on either canvas or paper. For more information, please contact us at studioschouten@iprimus.com.au

MAJOR EXHIBITIONS

1984           Wildlife Society of Australasia Annual Exhibition.

1989            Faber-Castell Annual Drawing Exhibition.

1991            Australian Wildlife Artists Exhibition - Australian Consulate,Washington

                    D.C., with Bill Cooper, Ray Harris-Ching and Rod Scott.

                   

1993           W.I.R.E.S.  Wildlife Art Exhibition.

1994           W.I.R.E.S.  Wildlife Art Exhibition.

1995           W.I.R.E.S.  Wildlife Art Exhibition.

1996            Fine Art Society Gallery, New Bond St.,London.                                .                   A solo exhibition featuring tree kangaroos.         .

1997           Christies (U.K.) - Annual Wildlife Art Auction.

1999           Levin Gallery, Naturalis Museum Leiden, Netherlands,                            

                   permanent exhibition of twenty paintings.

1999           Christies (U.K.) – Annual Wildlife Art Auction.

2001          Museum of South Australia, Adelaide. ‘A Gap In Nature’ exhibition.

                  Solo exhibition featuring 103 paintings.

2002          Queen Victoria Museum and Art Gallery, Launceston. ‘A Gap In Nature’

                   Solo exhibition featuring 103 paintings.

2005          Queen Victoria Museum and Art Gallery, Launceston. ‘Astonishing    .

                  Animals’ exhibition. Solo exhibition featuring 80 paintings. 

                 

2007         'Animal Ornata ' exhibition of 30 paintings highlighting the adornment and

                  ornamentation of obscure wildlife was held to commemorate the opening

                 of the new wing of the Manning Valley Regional Art Gallery

                                                       AWARDS

1983         Whitley Awards for books on Australian animals or history of

                  Australian zoology – highly commended.

1984         Wildlife Society of Australia – annual prize for drawing.

1989        Faber Castell Drawing Competition – highly commended.

1997        Whitley Awards – Gold Medal for most outstanding book of the

                 year : ‘Tree Kangaroos, A Curious Natural History’.

1997        Colin Roderick Literary Award – prize for most outstanding book

                on an Australian subject.

2002       Victorian Premier’s Literary Awards – Science Writing, ‘A Gap In     

                Nature', - highly commended.

    

2005       Victorian Premier's Literary Awards - Science Writing, 'Astonishing

                Animals' - Winner.

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