It was on a tree-lined street in his hometown of Brooklyn, New York,
where John Cody first encountered a large and colorful moth from the saturniid family.
He was five years old. He still recalls in detail that magical moment,
which would launch a lifelong interest and ultimately become what he calls his
true vocation: painting moths.
Dr. Cody began sketching scenes from nature when he was eight years old
and later began a professional art career as a medical illustrator. He went on to
medical school and became a renowned psychiatrist, practicing for more
than twenty-five years, something he says he did, in part, so that he could afford
to paint. A fellow psychiatrist called Dr. Cody "a rare avis, one of the most
truly creative and original human beings I've ever met."
Ultimately, his fascination with moths and remarkable artistic talent
came together to produce his celebrated paintings of moths. Indeed, he is now
revered as "The Audubon of Moths."
Dr. Cody's numerous exhibitions have included one-man shows at such sites
as the American Museum of Natural History in New York and the Smithsonian in
Washington, D.C. He holds top honors from a myriad of organizations and
publications, from Audubon Magazine to the Association of Medical Illustrators.
John received the Governor's Arts Award in 1997 for Individual Artist Lifetime
Achievement Award in the State of Kansas.
An authority on the poet Emily Dickinson, he has written biographies of her
and of Richard Wagner. He has also co-authored a biography of the famous medical
artist Max Brodel, as well as published books on art anatomy. He has written
dozens of articles and papers on subjects ranging from painting, medical illustration,
psychiatry, and entomology. John Cody lives with his wife, Dorothy, in Hays,
Kansas. They have three children: Loren, Andrea, and Graham.
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