Sam Kriss

The art of extinction

There is more to paleoart than kitsch and tat. It tells us about who we are – and were

Where previous dinosaurs had been colossal but slightly shapeless bags of flesh, these creatures are scrawny, all sinews and coiled muscle: ‘Dryptosaurus (Leaping Laelaps)’, 1897, by Charles R. Knight. Credit: The Picture Art Collection / Alamy

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