“Festival Day” to be auctioned

Two weeks from today, an important Dinotopia painting will be put to auction at Bonhams in New York.


In the last decade and a half, I have released only a very few Dinotopia originals. I have wanted to keep the body of work together to be available for museum exhibitions. I’ve decided to start offering some pieces to be auctioned each year.

The painting is called “Festival Day,” published in Dinotopia: Journey to Chandara. The scene shows an outdoor festival in the village of Jorotongo. Bix hangs out with kids playing lawn bowling and circle games, while singers belt out madrigals near an Einiosaurus, and a Stegosaurus awaits a game of “bucktail,” where he tosses teenagers into haystacks from his spike tail. To the left, the elders enjoy an outdoor banquet. The painting is an example of the mixture of cultures and the mood of playfulness that I enjoyed creating for Dinotopia.


The 12x18 inch oil painting is matted and framed was part of the museum exhibition that traveled to France and England a few years ago. I’m thrilled that it will be part of Bonham’s illustration sale in the company of artists I greatly admire,  such as E.H. Shepard, Arthur Rackham, Maurice Sendak, and Garth Williams.

For more information about this and other recent sales, please visit my original art blog, “James Gurney Original Art,” or you can go directly to the lot description at the Bonhams website.


Dinotopia: Journey to Chandara from Amazon