Knight, Charles (1874–1953)

US palaeontological artist who was influential in bringing dinosaurs to life in the public imagination. His extensive knowledge of anatomy and his collaborations with palaeontologists, such as Edward Drinker Cope and Henry Fairfield Osborn, mean his paintings accurately reflect scientific thinking of the time.

Knight began painting dinosaurs in the late 1890s and was active into the 1940s. He painted murals for the American Museum of Natural History and the Field Museum of Natural History in the 1920s.

Knight showed early artistic promise and attended various art schools around New York City, despite being hampered by poor vision and a tendency to phobias. At 16 he became a full-time painter of nature scenes for church decoration, but for most of his life he was a successful freelance illustrator for museums and natural history publications.