At first glance, Walton Ford's large-scale, highly-detailed watercolors of animals may recall the prints of 19th century illustrators John James Audubon and Edward Lear, and others of the colonial era. But a closer look reveals a complex and disturbingly_ **anthropomorphic universe,**full of symbols, sly jokes, and allusions to the 'operatic' nature of traditional natural history themes. _The beasts and birds populating this contemporary artist's life-size paintings are **never mere objects, but dynamic actors in allegorical struggles:** a wild turkey crushes a small parrot in its claw; a troupe of monkeys wreak havoc on a formal dinner table, an American buffalo is surrounded by bloodied white wolves. The book's title derives from _The Pancha Tantra_, an ancient Indian book of animal tales considered the precursor to Aesop's Fables.

This large-format limited edition includes **an in-depth exploration of Walton Ford's ****œ****uvre,** a complete biography, and excerpts from his textual inspirations: Vietnamese folktales and the letters of Benjamin Franklin, the _Autobiography of Benvenuto Cellini _and Audubon's_Ornithological Biography_.

Ford's paintings have been color-separated and reproduced in Pan4C, the finest serigraphic technique available, providing unequalled intensity and color range. The book includes 12 horizontal and 4 vertical foldouts that look awesome when you stand over them. _And you will._
**Available in an Art and a Collector's Edition, _Walton Ford: Pancha Tantra_ is signed by the artist and presented in a custom clamshell box.**

**Collector's Edition (No. 101-1,600)**


* **Limited to 1,500 individually numbered copies, each signed by Walton Ford**
* **Printed on archival-quality paper**
* **Finished in book cloth with a leather spine and corners with gold embossing**
* **Packaged in a clamshell box covered in Luxor book cloth**