Walton Ford is an American artist whose monumental paintings build upon natural history and the human imagination. Inspired by traditional natural history paintings, scientific illustrations, myths and folklore, Ford originally began painting animals after a trip to India in the 1990s, where he became fascinated with Indigenous birds and the effects of colonialism on the environment. From there, he began painting meticulous studies of animals and other wildlife, eventually developing his signature style that pairs detailed animal portraits with deep allegorical narratives, examining the relationship between humans and nature.

Ford’s works are held in major public collections, including the Museum of Modern Art (New York), the Whitney Museum of American Art (New York), the Smithsonian American Art Museum (Washington, D.C.), Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art (Bentonville, Arkansas), the Detroit Institute of Arts (Detroit, Michigan), and the Minneapolis Institute of Art (Minneapolis, Minnesota).