Gene Jarvis: Arboreal Skink

Artist: Gene Jarvis
1921 - 1990
Nationality: American
Artwork Year: 1981
Image Size: 9.5 by 9 inches
Overall Size: 12.75 by 12.5 inches
Medium: Pen & Ink on Hot Press Illustration Board

As Arboreal Skinks cling to swaying palm trees and bask in the warm sunshine, their blue-green tails and yellowish-brown bodies shimmer with a metallic iridescence. This color has often been described as the most beautiful metallic sheen imaginable, displaying all the colors of the rainbow. These multi-hued reptiles can be found in a wide range of natural wooded habitats from coastal environments to lush inland rain forests. They are very uniform in shape, coloration, and habits, and thus can easily be distinguished from other lizards. The Arboreal Skink has a scaly lower eyelid and gradually tapering tail that bears a striking resemblance to many of the native snakes. Enlarged, flattened areas under the toes improve their ability to climb trees where they are found most often. The overwhelming abundance of Skinks in Africa, India, Indonesia, Malaysia and Australia indicates the family evolved primarily on the southern continents. As a land-loving animal, Skinks avoid, with few exceptions, the immediate areas surrounding a body of water. Nevertheless, the easily adaptable Skink can now be found on numerous volcanic islands dotting the Pacific Ocean all the way to Hawaii and has reached the small islands off the coasts of Peru and Chile, a distance of thousands of miles. In the other direction, it colonized not only Madagascar and the surrounding islands, but also the African coast from Somalia to Mozambique. It is believed they crossed the oceans on pieces of driftwood to reach these new shores.

This painting was originally published on the Fleetwood® First Day Cover for the Christmas Island Arboreal Skink stamp issued August 10, 1981.

Artwork Copyright © 1981 Unicover Corporation. All Rights Reserved under United States and international copyright laws. You may not reproduce, distribute, transmit, or otherwise exploit the Artwork in any way. Images of the Artwork may be watermarked and/or digitally watermarked. Any sale of the physical original does not include or convey the Copyright or any right comprised in the copyright.

Our Stock Number (SKU): XB07476

US$ Price: $950.00

Easy Purchase Plan: Buy this ArtworkOriginal with 8 monthly payments. Payments will be charged automatically as due to your Credit Card.

How to buy Original Artwork:

If you would like to buy Original Artwork, there are several convenient ways:

Use The Artwork Gallery: simply click the "Hang in Gallery" for pictures of interest. This puts the picture in your Personal Artwork Gallery, where you can view or remove it. When you've finished hanging artwork in your Personal Artwork Gallery, Go to your Personal Artwork Gallery and select an option for contacting us or ordering from us from there.

To get in touch with us directly about a piece of Artwork by Phone note the SKU and dial TOLL FREE 1-800-443-4225 from throughout U.S. and Canada.