About the Artist
I’ve been very fortunate to have a four-decade career that has taken me to places I never dreamed I’d go. Into the Mesozoic Era to observe dinosaur behavior. To ancient Africa to study our ancestors.
I’ve made art for 12 issues of National Geographic Magazine, with four covers. I’ve also painted covers for Discover Magazine, Natural History Magazine, the journal Science, and periodicals and books around the world. I have fifteen sculptures in the Smithsonian’s Hall of Human Origins. I was commissioned by Steven Spielberg to produce pre-production and poster art for Jurassic Park, and by the USPS to create art for four dinosaur stamps in 1989. I was chosen to create paintings to go on exhibit with two museums’ star fossils: The Field Museum’s Tyrannosaurus (nicknamed Sue) and the American Museum of Natural History’s 3-skeleton Barosaurus rotunda mount.
I’ve been passionate about keeping my original art, as reproductions appeared in museums and on magazine covers. In four decades, I’ve only parted with one painting (‘Sue’ for the Field Museum). I am now, for the first time in 40 years, opening these up for sale.
Hominin reconstructions
National Geographic Covers
Prints and Original Art for Sale (see Shop)
Jurassic Park
Three years before the release of Jurassic Park, I was hired by Amblin Entertainment to create concept art and help design dinosaurs for the film.
New Hominin Discovery Restored
In 2019 the first known skull of Australopithecus anamensis was announced and I was commissioned to reconstruct its face.
Australopithecus anamensis
The first known skull of Australopithecus anamensis was announced on August 28th, 2019. I was commissioned to reconstruct the face, and this is the result. This is the oldest known and most primitive species of Australopithecus, and it stretches the boundary of anatomy known for the genus.
Watch Six Million Years of Evolution in One and a Half Minutes.
This video was made in promotion of the book Shaping Humanity, and is meant to depict the author and his probable ancestors. It should not be construed to suggest that the pinnacle of evolution is a white male, or that there weren’t other branches of the hominin tree that did not lead to John Gurche.
Reconstruction of Homo naledi
Shaping Humanity:
How Science, Art and Imagination help us understand our Origins
Shaping Humanity is about the art and science of reconstructing human ancestors. It chronicles the scientific detective work and artistic struggles behind the creation of 15 sculptures for the Smithsonian's Hall of Human Origins. It's also about the deep-time connections, sometimes almost mystical, that this kind of work can engender.
Lost Anatomies:
Evolution of the Human Form
by John Gurche, Abrams Books, March 12, 2019
The human form has been the subject of intense exploration by artists for centuries. Now, human origins science has extended the field for such exploration by revealing the human form’s precursors. This twenty-seven year labor of love follows the evolving human form through twenty million years of its evolution.
With essays by David Begun, Trent Holliday, Rick Potts and Carol Ward, and a foreword by Meave Leakey.
Dinosaur Images
Dinosaurs