1890s Animal Drawings and Watercolors

"New Forest" Pastoral Landscape in Watercolor on Cardstock Serene landscape with livestock by an unknown artist (19th Century). The viewer is on a hill in a forested area, overlooki...

William Cruickshank (1848-1922). Still Life with a Dead Goldfinch and Nest. Watercolour and gouache on buff paper, 21 x 24.5 cm (visible size), 40 x 42 cm (frame), signed W Cruickshank on the left. Framed behind glass in a passpartout. About the artwork The painting has an atmosphere of melancholy beauty. The clutch of eggs, recalling the wonderfully mysterious blue of Romanticism, the matching blue flowers and the goldfinch with its black, yellow and red plumage show nature in all its beauty, and yet the goldfinch is dead. It lies on its back, its head bent backwards in an unnatural way, its claws lifeless and one wing outstretched in a last effort. This makes the scene a natura morta, a still life that spreads the melancholy silence of an eternal moment. Yet there is also an inherent movement in the picture, enhanced by the streaky application of paint. A movement that here signifies the intertwining of life and death: death, which the goldfinch has met in mid-life, before it has been able to hatch its offspring, while at the same time the mysterious blue eggs that have not hatched point to a higher life after death. Finally, the goldfinch feeding on the thorny thistles traditionally represents Christ and his redemptive sacrificial death. The goldfinch is depicted in a similar way in Carel Fabritius' famous painting The Thistle Finch (1654), in the Mauritshuis in The Hague. The bird is alive, but chained and thus prevented from flying. In this tradition, Cruickshanks' painting is a memento mori that is immediately appealing to today's viewer - a meditative image of life and death that also contains an affirmation of life in all the beauty of creation. In order to enhance the readability of this pictorial sense, the objects depicted are tilted into the plane so that the individual elements of the picture can be more easily related to one another, but without destroying the sense of space. Cruickshank, who specialised in this type of painting, combined the emblematics of the Baroque with the imagery of Romanticism and a style borrowed from landscape painting. Cruickshank's mastery of materials is evident in his fusion of watercolour and gouache, in which the more intense colours of gouache concretise the motif from an indeterminate, moving colour space. The painted objects have the aesthetic quality of fine painting, although, as in the case of the nest, they are formed by a virtuoso structure of blotches. Selected bibliography Algernon Graves: The Royal Academy of Arts. A complete dictionary of contributors and their work from its foundation in 1769 to 1904, vol. 2: Carroll to Dyer, London 1905. Leo R. Schidlof: The miniature in Europe. In the 16th, 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries, vol. 1: A - L, Graz 1964. Jeremy Maas: Victorian painters, London 1996. Daphne Foskett: A Dictionary of British miniature...

Texas naturalistic farm landscape watercolor painting in the style of Frank Reaugh. Often called the “Dean of Texas Painters,” this piece captures his ded...

An extremely charming miniature American folk art painting depicting two blue birds with a nest. Unsigned but 19th Century in a more contemporary frame.

Initialed lower left, 'W' for Edwin Lord Weeks (American, 1849-1903) and painted circa 1895. Edwin Lord Weeks was born near Boston and educated in Bo...

"Boatyard with Seagulls" is a pencil drawing on paper by Henry Snell (New Hope, Pennsylvania / Gloucester, Massachusetts 1858 - 1943). The drawing measures 3 1/4 x 4 3/4 inches; it i...

Casimir Brau-Simon, (active in France from 1890 to 1930) A roaring Cougar, 1895, Signed and dated lower right watercolor on paper 19 x 13.5 cm Framed 34 x 29 cm The framing is a little bit asymetrical as a part the right edge of the watercolor is missing. Casimir Brau-Simon was a painter and sculptor. He was born in Bagnère de Bigorre...

Deer From Behind is an original artwork realized by Ernest Rouart in the early XX Century. Pencil on paper; the back of the artwork is sketched in pencil. Passepartout included (48 x...

Volatile is an original artwork realized by Ernest Rouart in the early XX Century. Pencil on paper. Passepartout included (49 x 34 cm). Signed in red ink on the lower right corner. Good conditions. The artwork represents the body of a volatile with some writings near the figure; the drawing is actually a sketch for the representation of the animal. The artist realized many animal figures after a detailed study of the different parts of their bodies. The pencil strokes demonstrate the exceptional ability of the artist as draftsman and designer. Many notes near the figure of the volatile suggest that Rouart was an excellent observer of reality. Ernest Rouart (Paris, 1874 – Paris, 1942) was a French painter, illustrator, engraver, and art collector. He was the son of Henri Rouart...

The Feline and the Ox is an original artwork realized by the French artist Ernest Rouart in the first decade of the XX century. Pencil on tissue paper. Passepartout included (cm 34 x 49). Very good conditions. The artwork represents a fight between a feline and an ox; the feline, maybe a leopard or a cheetah, is biting the ox on the neck. The drawing was made on a very delicate paper tissue. The bodies of the two animals are proportionated and there is an interesting use of chiaroscuro that defines the volumes. The artwork, moreover, is characterized by a sense of movement and dynamism Ernest Rouart (Paris, 1874 – Paris, 1942) was a French painter, illustrator, engraver, and art collector. He was the son of Henri Rouart...

Fawns is an original pencil drawing on paper realized by Ernest Rouart between the end of the XIX and the beginning of the XX century. This drawing is hand-signed by the artist in red pen on the lower left. Including a white cardboard passepartout: 49 x 69 cm. Good conditions, except for some stains on lower left corner. This fine modern artwork represents fawns. On the back of the drawing, the artist drew some sketches of other fawns. Ernest Rouart (Paris, 1874 – Paris, 1942) was a French painter, illustrator, engraver, and art collector. He was the son of Henri Rouart...

Fawn is an original pencil drawing on paper realized by Ernest Rouart between the end of the XIX and the beginning of the XX century. This drawing is hand-signed by the artist in red pen on the lower left. Including a white cardboard passepartout: 49 x 34 cm. Good conditions, except for some very light stains and shading of paper. This fine modern artwork represents a fawn while drinking from a puddle. On the back of the drawing, the artist drew some sketches of pigeons. Enchanting is the softness of the pencil strokes in this sweet drawing. Ernest Rouart (Paris, 1874 – Paris, 1942) was a French painter, illustrator, engraver, and art collector. He was the son of Henri Rouart...