Athos Menaboni

Athos Menaboni
Born	Athos Rodolfo Giorgio Alessandro Menaboni (1895-10-20)October 20, 1895 Livorno, Italy
Died	July 18, 1990(1990-07-18) (aged 94) Atlanta, Georgia
Nationality	American
Education	Accademia di Belle Arti di Firenze
Occupation(s)	Artist (Most famous for naturalist paintings of birds and botanicals)
Years active	1921-1987
Spouse	Sara Regina Arnold Menaboni (m. 1928)

Athos Rodolfo Giorgio Alessandro Menaboni (October 20, 1895 – July 18, 1990) was an Italian-born American artist who spent the bulk of his career in Atlanta, Georgia.

Early life and education

Menaboni was born in Livorno, Italy, and developed a profound affinity for nature from his early years. Raised in a family with a strong connection to the maritime world, his father, Averardo, was a successful ship chandler. Young Athos developed a lifelong love for birds and animals that would later inspire his art.

Menaboni's artistic talent emerged early. At age nine, he began art lessons with painter Ugo Manaresi and muralist Charles Doudelet. Later, he continued his artistic education at the Academy of Fine Arts in Florence until World War I disrupted his studies.

Career

After serving in the Italian army during World War I, Menaboni immigrated to the United States in 1921, initially settling in New York City. He eventually found his way to Atlanta, where he would spend the rest of his life. In Atlanta, Menaboni's artistic talents quickly caught the attention of prominent architect Philip Trammell Shutze, leading to numerous commissions for decorative painting in private residences and public buildings.

Bird paintings

In 1937, Menaboni's artistic focus shifted when he returned to his childhood interest in birds. Inspired by the avian wonders he observed in nature, Menaboni began meticulously painting birds in their natural habitats. His oil paintings, often mistaken for watercolors due to their delicate and lifelike quality, became his signature style.

The following have been drawn or painted by Athos Menaboni:

1. American Black Duck
2. American Coot
3. American Crow
4. American Golden Plover
5. American Goldfinch
6. American Kestrel (also called Sparrow Hawk)
7. American Redstart
8. American Robin
9. American Wigeon
10. American Woodcock
11. Ani
12. Bald Eagle
13. Baltimore Oriole
14. Barn Owl
15. Barn Swallow
16. Barred Owl
17. Belted Kingfisher
18. Black Brant Goose
19. Black Francolin
20. Black Grouse
21. Black Minorca
22. Black Skimmer
23. Black-crowned Night-Heron
24. Black-necked Stilt
25. Blue Grosbeak
26. Blue Jay
27. Blue-winged Teal
28. Boat-tailed Grackle
29. Bobolink
30. Bronzed Grackle
31. Brown Leghorn
32. Brown Pelican
33. Brown Thrasher
34. Bufflehead
35. California Gull
36. California Quail (also called Valley Quail)
37. Canada Goose
38. Canvasback
39. Capercaillie
40. Carolina Chickadee
41. Cedar Waxwing
42. Chukar Partridge
43. Common Goldeneye
44. Common Kingfisher (also called Eurasian Kingfisher and River Kingfisher)
45. Common Loon
46. Common Munia
47. Common Nightingale
48. Common Raven
49. Common Tern
50. Common Yellowthroat
51. Cooper's Hawk
52. Darked-eyed Junko (also called Slate-colored Junko)
53. Eastern Bluebird
54. Eastern Kingbird
55. Eastern Meadowlark
56. Eastern Starling
57. Eastern Towhee
58. Eastern Wild Turkey
59. European Goldfinch
60. Evening Grosbeak
61. Field Sparrow
62. Firefinch
63. Flamingo
64. Forster's Tern
65. Gadwall
66. Gambel's Quail
67. Glossy Ibis
68. Golden Eagle
69. Golden-crowned Kinglet
70. Goldeneye
71. Gray Catbird
72. Gray Partridge
73. Gray-cheeked Thrush
74. Great Blue Heron
75. Great Horned Owl
76. Greater Prairie Chicken
77. Greater Yellowlegs
78. Green Heron
79. Green-winged Teal
80. Grey Waxbill
81. Hooded Merganser
82. Hooded Warbler
83. Horned Grebe
84. Indian Peafowl
85. Indigo Bunting
86. Kentucky Warbler
87. Killdeer
88. Lady Amherst's Pheasant
89. Laughing Gull
90. Least Tern
91. Lesser Scaup
92. Little Blue Heron
93. Louisiana Water Thrush
94. Magpie
95. Mallard
96. Merriam Turkey
97. Mountain Bluebird
98. Mourning Dove
99. Northern Bobwhite (also called Bobwhite Quail and Virginia Quail)
100. Northern Cardinal
101. Northern Flicker (also called Yellow-shafted Flicker)
102. Northern Harrier
103. Northern Mockingbird
104. Northern Pintail
105. Northern Saw-whet Owl
106. Northern Shoveler
107. Orange-breasted Waxbill
108. Orange-cheeked Waxbill
109. Osprey
110. Painted Bunting
111. Peregrine Falcon
112. Pileated Woodpecker
113. Piping Plover
114. Purple Gallinule
115. Purple Martin
116. Red-cheeked Cordon-bleu Finch
117. Reddish Egret
118. Redhead
119. Red-headed Woodpecker
120. Red-tailed Hawk
121. Red-winged Blackbird
122. Reeves’ Pheasant
123. Ring-billed Gull
124. Ring-necked Duck
125. Ring-necked Pheasant
126. Rose-breasted Grosbeak
127. Ruby-crowned Kinglet
128. Ruby-throated Hummingbird
129. Ruddy Duck
130. Ruffed Grouse
131. Scarlet Tanager
132. Scoter
133. Screech Owl
134. Semipalmated Plover
135. Sharp-skinned Hawk
136. Sharp-tailed Grouse
137. Snow Goose
138. Snowy Egret
139. Song Sparrow
140. Spanish Red-legged Partridge
141. Spotted Sandpiper
142. Summer Tanager
143. Swallow-tailed Kite
144. Toucan
145. Tree Swallow
146. Tri-colored Mannikin
147. Troupial
148. Tufted Titmouse
149. Tundra Swan
150. Turkey Vulture
151. Turkish Gray Partridge
152. Two-colored Mannikin
153. Western Meadowlark
154. White Ibis
155. White-breasted Nuthatch
156. White-tailed Kite
157. White-throated Sparrow
158. Whooping Crane
159. Wilson's Snipe
160. Wood Duck
161. Wood Thrush
162. Yellow-billed Cuckoo
163. Yellow-breasted Chat
164. Yellow-naped Amazon Parrot
165. Zebra Finch

Decorative Arts Projects

1. 1927-1928 – Swan House (Atlanta, Georgia) - For Philip Shutze - First floor: marbleized areas in several rooms. Second floor: marbleized walls and decorative painting in the master dressing room/bath. It's now a house museum.

2. 1928 – Battle of Atlanta Cyclorama (Atlanta, Georgia) - For the City of Atlanta - Restored the sky and painted additional clouds.*

3. 1929 – Rhodes-Haverty Building (Atlanta, Georgia) - For J. J. Haverty - Decorative painting on the lobby ceiling.

4. 1930 – May Patterson Goodrum House (Atlanta, Georgia) - For Philip Shutze - First floor: marbleized areas in several rooms, decorative painting in the breakfast room, and decorative painting on the ceiling and frieze in the dining room. It's now a house museum.

5. 1930 – Saint Joseph's Hospital (Atlanta, Georgia) - For J. J. Haverty - Two chapel murals.

6. 1931 – The Temple (Atlanta, Georgia) - For Philip Shutze - Marbleized wood columns in the sanctuary's altar area.

7. 1931 – Al Sihah Shrine Temple (Macon, Georgia) - For William Elliott Dunwoody Jr. - Main hall murals and decorative painting.

8. 1933 – The Citizens and Southern National Bank (Macon, Georgia) - For William Elliott Dunwoody Jr. - Five banking room murals.

9. 1934 – English Avenue School (Atlanta, Georgia) - For J. J. Haverty (WPA Project) - A library mural.*

10. 1936-1938 – R. J. Reynolds Mansion (Sapelo Island, Georgia) - For Philip Shutze - Ground floor: game room murals. First floor: sunroom mural, indoor pool mural.* Second floor: banquet hall murals.

11. 1939 – Capital City Club (Atlanta, Georgia) - For Philip Shutze - Fifteen large paintings (painted in reverse) on glass and then silvered to create mirrors.

12. 1940 – New York World's Fair (Queens, New York) - For the “America at Home” Building/Exhibit (April to October 1940) - An overmantel mural used to decorate a room by Atlanta interior designer Mary Miller.*

Notes:

1. * The work no longer exists.
2. Menaboni began selling paintings of birds in 1937, but was, in the 1950s, commissioned to create murals by The Citizens and Southern National Bank for branches in Atlanta, Decatur, and Albany, Georgia.

Magazines

Menaboni's art has been featured on the covers of many prominent magazines, such as Sports Afield, Sports Illustrated (2 covers), The Progressive Farmer (15 covers) and Southern Living. These engagements led to other jobs for the artist.

A 1950 TIME article referred to Menaboni as "Audubon's Heir".

Books

In 1950 Sara and Athos Menaboni published Menaboni’s Birds, a book of his paintings with accompanying descriptions written by Sara. It was named one of the “Fifty Best Books of the Year” by the American Institute of Graphic Arts. A revised edition was published in 1984.

Menaboni illustrated Never the Nightingale (1951) by Daniel Whitehead Hicky. Since 1957 his art has appeared in every edition of The World Book Encyclopedia (Volume B, “Birds”).

Exhibitions and tributes

Menaboni's work received exhibitions at institutions such as the American Museum of Natural History and the National Audubon Society. His collaboration with Robert W. Woodruff of The Coca-Cola Company helped solidified his reputation, with bird paintings featured on his annual personal Christmas cards for over four decades.

Don Russell Clayton, an alumnus of Kennesaw State University and a friend of Menaboni, donated his collection of Menaboni's works to the Zuckerman Museum of Art and has presented multiple lectures on the artist. He has also curated numerous exhibitions.