Queen Bee

Queen Bee is a limited edition giclée by Michael Godard, painted in the bold, saturated color and theatrical style that has defined his work since the 1990s.

It appeals to collectors of nature and wildlife wall art and safari themed decor, part of the nature and wildlife side of Godard's catalog.

Edition Details & Sizing

Queen Bee is offered in 3 edition types to fit different budgets and wall sizes: the G (17.5" x 23", edition of 250) at $595, the Signed and Numbered (28" x 36", edition of 300) at $1,195, and the Artist Proof (28" x 36", edition of 50) at $1,595. Every edition is produced as a giclée, a fine-art inkjet process using archival pigment inks on artist-grade canvas or metal, and is individually hand-numbered to its edition size. See our edition types guide for a full explanation of what Artist Proof, Gallery Proof, Signed and Numbered, G, and Metal editions mean.

About Queen Bee

Queen Bee is part of Michael Godard's expanding catalog of limited edition fine art. Rendered in Godard's signature bold, saturated color palette, this piece carries the same theatrical exaggeration and craftsmanship collectors recognize across his work: it extends Godard's personified-animal catalog into a smaller, more intricate subject, rendered with the same theatrical character work that defines his menagerie series. As with all of Godard's limited editions, the piece rewards close viewing: he is known for tucking hidden names, dates, and initials into his compositions, giving collectors new details to find long after the piece is on the wall.

Frequently Asked Questions

Authenticity & Guarantee

Authenticity on Queen Bee isn't an afterthought: Michael Godard Gallery, an authorized Michael Godard dealer, ships every print hand-numbered, insured, and with a certificate confirming its edition type and number. Queen Bee joins a catalog of limited edition fine art Godard has been building for over 30 years.

About Michael Godard

Queen Bee returns Michael Godard to the small, closely observed creatures that populate his nature-focused catalog, this time choosing an insect whose social structure gives the painting an obvious, almost regal metaphor to work with. The bee's black and gold coloring plays directly to Godard's saturated, high-contrast palette, proving once again that his black-background technique reads just as effectively at insect scale as it does across a full casino floor.

Godard's route into painting insects and animals began, as it did for nearly every subject in his catalog, with a single cocktail commission. Born March 10, 1963, and raised in Pasadena before settling in Las Vegas, he studied at ArtCenter College of Design and the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, and spent his twenties as a professional drummer in Las Vegas bands and as an architectural draftsman rather than a painter. A friend's request for a martini-themed birthday piece led him to create his first personified olive, a decision made during a period of genuine hardship when Godard was living in his car to support his children.

He built his earliest audience trading finished paintings for meals at "drink and draw" nights in Las Vegas bars and restaurants, and the same patient observation from that period carried directly into his later nature paintings, of which Queen Bee is a part. Godard's well-known habit of hiding names, dates, and initials inside his compositions likely continues here as well.

His public career has grown well beyond gallery walls, earning him the nickname "Rockstar of the Art World" through television appearances on A&E's Criss Angel's Mindfreak and American Casino, and collaborations including custom guitar artwork for Guns N' Roses and the 2005 album cover for Dishwalla. His 2006 book Don't Drink and Draw was named an Art Book of the Year, and a documentary about his life has won awards at multiple independent film festivals.

Since 2006, following the death of his teenage daughter Paige to brain cancer, Godard has supported St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, the Make-A-Wish Foundation, and the Nevada Cancer Institute, regularly visiting hospitals to paint alongside children in treatment. Queen Bee, small in scale but regal in bearing, reflects the same close attention Godard brings to every subject, however modest its size.

Godard's other insect and nature paintings, including Yellow Bumble Bee, Red Lady Bug, and Butterfly Effervescence, share the same careful attention to color and detail visible in Queen Bee, a body of work that proves his signature technique extends well past cocktails and casinos. Ozzy Osbourne wrote the foreword to one of Godard's books, and his artwork has reportedly been placed in a Pentagon officers' lounge and aboard U.S. Navy vessels, an unusually broad audience for a painter whose earliest canvases were traded for meals in Las Vegas bars. His 2006 book Don't Drink and Draw was named an Art Book of the Year, and a documentary about his career has won honors at multiple independent film festivals, further evidence of a following that reaches far past the collectors of his cocktail-driven work alone.