What is Charles R. Knight?
{{Infobox artist |name = Charles R. Knight |image = Charles Knight.jpg <!-- |image_size = 250px --> |caption = Photo from c. 1914 |birth_name = |birth_date = {{birth date |1874|10|2|}} |birth_place = [[Brooklyn, New York]] |death_date = {{death date and age |1953|4|15|1874|10|2|}} |death_place = [[Manhattan, New York]] |nationality = [[United States|American]] |field = [[Painting]] }} [[File:La Brea Tar Pits.jpg|thumb|240px|Mural at the AMNH, showing the fauna of the [[La Brea Tar Pits]]]] [[File:Allosaurus eating.jpg|thumb|''[[Allosaurus]]'' preying on ''[[Apatosaurus]]'', at the [[American Museum of Natural History]]. Knight, 1902]] '''Charles Robert Knight''' (October 21, 1874 – April 15, 1953) was an [[Americans|American]] [[artist]] famous for his [[painting]]s of [[dinosaur]]s and other [[prehistory|prehistoric]] animals. His works were reproduced in many books, and are on display at several major [[museum]]s in the United States. == Early career == [[File:Tylosaurus Illus.jpg|thumb|right|''Tylosaurus'', a [[mosasaur]] by Charles R. Knight, 1902.]] As a child, Knight was deeply interested in nature and animals, and spent many hours copying the illustrations from his father’s [[natural history]] books. Though [[blindness|legally blind]], he was partially sighted. He had severe [[astigmatism (eye)|astigmatism]], and a later injury to his right eye, but had specially-designed glasses. At twelve, he enrolled at the [[Metropolitan Museum of Art|Metropolitan Art School]] to become a [[drawing|commercial artist]]. In his free time, Knight visited the [[American Museum of Natural History]], and attracted the attention of Dr. Jacob Wortman. Soon the museum commissioned Knight to produce a series of [[watercolor]]s for their fossil halls. These paintings were hugely popular among visitors, and Knight continued to work with the museum well into the 1930s. He painted what would become some of the most celebrated images of dinosaurs, prehistoric mammals, and preh