Birds and Light
Whatever was Sweden's Royal Academy of Fine Arts thinking when it rejected Jonsson's application for admission in 1972? The academy's loss was the bird-watcher's gain, for as this retrospective of the 50-year-old artist's career displays, Jonsson turned straightaway to illustrating field guides, since combined for the American market asBirds of Europe with North Africa and the Middle East(1993). Images from this utilitarian period, combined with an interview with Jonsson, parse his technique and, more revealingly, his mental approach to painting birds, which are reclusive by nature. Usually working outdoors, he attempts to "dissolve" his mind in the subject and its surroundings. Perhaps he absorbs a bird's natural alertness, for his melding with his subject promotes a characteristic aesthetic to his oil paintings: sharply focused detail around the bird's eyes eliding subtly to evocative mist, slush, water, or forest litter. Regularly exhibited in Europe and North America, Jonsson is immensely popular with the ornithologically inclined, who will be delighted with this beautiful catalog of his work.Gilbert TaylorCopyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved