Toby Wright
When Art Meets Expedition
”I don’t just paint animals.
I follow them.”
”I don’t just paint animals.
I follow them.”
”I don’t just paint animals.
I follow them.”
— Toby Wright
A Practice Rooted In Nature
Toby Wright’s artistic journey flows between wilderness and studio, past and present. Toby fuses classical painting technique with the immediacy of fieldwork. His subjects span Arctic wildlife, museum dioramas, coastal landscapes, and commissioned portraits.
Recent highlights include:
- Elysium Arctic expedition: painting on location in Svalbard, Greenland, and Iceland
- Underwater drawing with sea lions in the Sea of Cortez
- Snorkeling alongside orcas and humpback whales in Arctic Norway
- A historic group portrait commission for Monaco’s Oceanographic Museum featuring Prince Albert II
Historical Depth, Modern Reach
Historical Depth, Modern Reach
Toby’s work is deeply influenced by the legacy of natural history painting. On his blog he reflects on the lives and methods of figures like Carl Akeley and Louis Tinayre, artists who worked at the edge of science and storytelling. In ”Painting between Giants” on his youtube channel, Toby takes a (much closer) look at the alpine work of John Singer Sargent.
Painting what disappears
Toby Wright’s project ”Workshop with a Ghost” shows that his artistic practice is not only rooted in tradition, but deeply engaged in the world we live in. Teaming up with a professional team of film makers, ”The Convergence”, he has been climbing to historic vantage points in the Alps, painting from the same spots as 19th-century artists, documenting how glaciers have retreated over the last 150 years. Each painting becomes a quiet but powerful testimony to change.
The project has received international attention, presented at Climate Week NYC and recently at The Accademia di Belli Arti, Venice.