Sinosauropteryx painting, John Lanzendorf Collection
Paleontologists who make new discoveries need paleoartists to show how dinosaurs might have looked when they were alive. This 1997 work depicts the newly discovered Chinese feathered dinosaur, Sinosauropteryx, in its environment for the first time and was painted by Michael Skrepnick, who did the original pen and ink reconstruction for the New York Times announcement of the species.
It is part of one of the largest collections of paleoart anywhere, which was acquired by the museum from collector John Lanzendorf in 2002. Lanzendorf’s passion for paleoart and toys began at an early age.
He says, “When I was 6 or 7 years old, I got a box of Nabisco Shreddies with the little green dinosaurs in it. I would force myself to eat five boxes of cereal a day so my mom would keep buying the boxes.”
