When a winner is announced Saturday in Bloomington for the 2009 federal Duck Stamp contest, the artist will reap national attention and likely a financial windfall.
That's because wildlife art -- once obscure -- is a big business, thanks in part to Bill Webster of Frontenac, Minn., who was instrumental in whetting America's appetite for it. Webster, 83, founded Wild Wings gallery in Lake City in 1967, which started selling limited edition wildlife prints.
He has watched the evolution of wildlife art over the years and helped make Minnesota the leader in producing it. Fifteen Minnesota artists have won 23 federal Duck Stamp contests. Minnesotans have 40 of the 270 entries in this year's contest -- the most of any state.
The winner's art will be represented on nearly two million stamps sold to hunters and collectors, and will be reproduced as limited edition prints and sold nationwide. The stamps and prints probably will appreciate in value over time. The winning art likely will be stunning, and will realistically depict a duck or goose.
But that wasn't always the case.
"In the earlier days of wildlife art, the technical part of ducks and pheasants in flight was marginal at best," Webster said, "because people basically were painting scenery with a few ducks in it." There was little detail.
That changed beginning in the 1940s.
"Photography changed wildlife art," said Webster, who sold Wild Wings to Cabela's in 2002. Artists examined photos or film of ducks and replicated the details of a bird rather than painting it more abstractly.