SANTA BARBARA, CALIF.- The new exhibition Drawn from Nature: The Maximus Legacy at the Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History (SBMNH) marks 30 years of appreciating the art of science in the John and Peggy Maximus Gallery.
To celebrate the milestone, Gallery Curator Linda Miller chose 57 works from among the thousands of antique prints in the Museum’s collection, reflecting a wide range of subjects featured by the most famous scientific illustrators of the past four centuries. Organized thematically, the presentation offers detailed depictions of plants, mammals, birds, marine life, reptiles, amphibians, and insects and a glimpse into the development of the arts and sciences.
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“Originally created for purposes of identification and sharing knowledge, as more talented artists were involved, these works became sought after for their intrinsic beauty,” Miller explains. “On display is a sampling of the range of subjects in our collection. It’s a chance for the public to see these rare and beautiful works. Usually, they are kept in the dark in flat files in the climate-controlled collection room. But when we take them out, frame them and put them on exhibit with interpretation for context, you have a special experience.”
This exhibition invites visitors to experience what craftsmanship, artistry, and close observation of nature looked like in an earlier age. “Sometimes they are quirky or unrealistic, but often they’re compelling and beautiful,” Miller adds. “Several images of birds in the collection are haunting when you realize they were drawn from a living bird before the extinction of its species.” One such image in the exhibit is the Passenger Pigeon (above), drawn from life by Alexander Wilson in the early 1800s. During his lifetime, these birds darkened the skies in massive flocks. But due to unrelenting exploitation for food and recreation, the last wild birds were gone by 1900, and the final member of the species died in captivity on September 1, 1914.
Another highlight and a recent acquisition for the collection is George Edwards’s depiction of the now-extinct dodo (Didus ineptus), reproduced in his Gleanings of Natural History (1760). Edwards based his colored plate on an oil painting created in Holland from a live specimen brought from Mauritius. The original canvas, which later came into Edwards’s possession from the collection of Sir Hans Sloane, was deposited in the British Museum as “a great curiosity.” Though the original portrayed several animals, including birds, lizards, and a toad, Edwards chose to feature the dodo and added a guinea pig to suggest scale. Edwards’s plate, alongside other works in the gallery, serves as a powerful reminder of the fragility of life and the power of art to record what is gone.
Peggy Maximus and the Maximus Gallery
The exhibit also commemorates the vision, dedication, and financial support of the gallery’s patron, Peggy Maximus. Peggy and her husband John collected antique prints as inspiration for his work as an artist and illustrator in New York City in the mid-20th century. Peggy also worked in the art and design world. Prior to her marriage, she was one of Hollywood’s leading interior designers. Her work appeared in prestigious magazines such as Architectural Digest, and she authored many articles on modern decorating.
Peggy’s growing involvement with the Museum led to the donation of the couple’s extensive print collection. In 1995, she also provided the support to construct the Maximus Wing—offering not only space, but the means to preserve, display, and interpret these rare works for generations to come.
The Maximus Collection now includes over 4,000 engravings and lithographs, representing European and American illustrations spanning the 16th to 19th centuries. These prints offer invaluable insights into how science and communication evolved during that time. What began as a tool for scientific identification became, with artistic refinement and improved printing techniques, a celebrated medium of beauty and inquiry. Today, the Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History remains one of the few institutions in the world with a dedicated gallery exploring the intersection of history, science, nature, and art.
Drawn from Nature is included with Museum admission and will run through September 7, 2025.
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