Joseph Wolf Animal Prints
German, 1820-1899
Joseph Wolf was the most prominent ornithological artist to contribute illustrations to John Gould’s bird books. While growing up on a farm in Germany, Wolf roamed the countryside and developed a strong interest in observing and sketching the wildlife. In 1836 his father reluctantly permitted him to become an apprentice at a lithographic firm in nearby Coblenz (Jackson 1975, 63).
After spending three years there improving his drawing skills and learning how to copy drawings onto the limestone blocks used for lithographic printing, Wolf returned to the family farm, but only for a year. Scientific contacts led him first to Darmstadt and then to Leiden in the Netherlands, where he progressed from illustrating ornithological books to become a painter of birds and animals. He improved his artistic skills still more by attending art school.
He developed the idea of depicting birds in motion, such as the dramatic scene of a Capercaillie escaping a fox that he drew for the publisher, Kern, in 1846 (Jackson 1975, 64). When revolution disrupted life on the European continent in 1848, Wolf took up the invitation of David William Mitchell, secretary of the Zoological Society of London, and assisted Mitchell in illustrating George Robert Gray’s book, Genera of Birds (1844-1849).
In 1849 Wolf also began to provide John Gould with illustrations for The Birds of Great Britain (1862-1873), his approach being especially suitable for birds of prey (Jackson 1975, 67). For example, he shows the Hooded Crow stealing an egg from a nest (Figs. 2 and 3). Rather than commit to working full-time for Gould, Wolf retained his independence as a free-lance artist.
Wolf’s biographer, Samuel Palmer, recounted that Gould enticed Wolf to visit and make charcoal drawings of birds for him by setting out Wolf’s favorite cigars and drawing materials. Whether that story is true or not, it is also recorded that Wolf objected to the overly bright tints chosen by Gould for coloring the lithographic prints (Jackson 1975, 67).
The drawings made by Wolf for The Birds of Asia (1850-1883) were his last for Gould Gould’s text about Bulwer’s Pheasant thanks the British Museum for loaning him the unique type specimen, “which has enabled me to prepare the accompanying Plate from the talented pencil of Mr. Wolf’ (Figs. 4 and 5).
Wolf’s drawings were rendered on stone by Henry Constantine Richter, another Gould artist who had earlier worked on illustrations for Gray’s Genera of Birds. It must have been an oversight that Wolf’who had drawn the Painted Spurfowl for Gould, was not credited on the published plate.
Source:
Website of University of Kansas Libraries: Gould History and Backgroundto
4
Overall Width
to
Overall Height
to
4
194
161
119
94
2
2
3
1
4
4
4
2
2
2
1
4
2
2
Artist: Joseph Wolf
Four Pheasants
By Joseph Wolf
Located in London, GB
WOLF, Joseph (artist)
Four Pheasants
London, For the author, Red Lion Court, Fleet Street, 1871
Four original hand-coloured lithographic plates by Joseph Smit after Joseph Wo...
Category
1870s Naturalistic Joseph Wolf Animal Prints
Materials
Watercolor, Gouache, Lithograph
Phasianus colchicus
By Joseph Wolf
Located in Columbia, MO
Joseph Wolf
Lithograph
c.1940
Category
Mid-20th Century Naturalistic Joseph Wolf Animal Prints
Materials
Lithograph
Phasianus torquatus
By Joseph Wolf
Located in Columbia, MO
Joseph Wolf
Lithograph
c.1940
Category
Mid-20th Century Naturalistic Joseph Wolf Animal Prints
Materials
Lithograph
Two Guinea Fowl
By Joseph Wolf
Located in London, GB
WOLF, Joseph (artist).
Two Guinea Fowl
London For the author, Red Lion Court, Fleet Street 1871
Two original hand-coloured lithographic plates by Joseph Smit after Joseph Wolf. ...
Category
1870s Joseph Wolf Animal Prints
Materials
Paper, Watercolor, Gouache, Lithograph
Related Items
American Flamingo /// John James Audubon Natural History Ornithology Bird Litho
By John James Audubon
Located in Saint Augustine, FL
Artist: John James Audubon (American, 1785-1851)
Title: "American Flamingo" (Plate 375, No. 75)
Portfolio: The Birds of America, First Royal Octavo E...
Category
1840s Victorian Joseph Wolf Animal Prints
Materials
Watercolor, Lithograph
Whooping Crane /// John James Audubon Ornithology Natural History Wading Birds
By John James Audubon
Located in Saint Augustine, FL
Artist: John James Audubon (American, 1785-1851)
Title: "Whooping Crane" (Plate 313, No. 63)
Portfolio: The Birds of America, First Royal Octavo Edition
Year: 1840-1844
Medium: Origi...
Category
1840s Victorian Joseph Wolf Animal Prints
Materials
Watercolor, Lithograph
Snowy Heron /// John James Audubon Natural History Ornithology Snowy Egret Bird
By John James Audubon
Located in Saint Augustine, FL
Artist: John James Audubon (American, 1785-1851)
Title: "Snowy Heron" (Plate 374, No. 75)
Portfolio: The Birds of America, First Royal Octavo Edition
Year: 1840-1844
Medium: Original...
Category
1840s Victorian Joseph Wolf Animal Prints
Materials
Watercolor, Lithograph
"Sandwich Tern' Antique Hand Colored Lithograph
Located in Soquel, CA
"Sandwich Tern' Antique Hand Colored Lithograph
Delicately rendered naturalist drawing of a sandwich tern from the 1903 edition of "A History of British Birds" by F.O. Morris. This...
Category
Early 1900s Naturalistic Joseph Wolf Animal Prints
Materials
Paper, Watercolor, Lithograph
Seaweeds, German antique underwater botanical chromolithograph print
Located in Melbourne, Victoria
'Algen I'
(Seaweeds)
German chromolithograph, circa 1895. Central vertical fold as issued.
240mm by 305mm (sheet)
Category
Late 19th Century Naturalistic Joseph Wolf Animal Prints
Materials
Lithograph
Forest Insects - Beetles, German antique chromolithograph print
Located in Melbourne, Victoria
'Forstinsekten II Kafer'
(Forest Insects - Beetles)
German chromolithograph, circa 1895.
245mm by 155mm (sheet)
Category
Late 19th Century Naturalistic Joseph Wolf Animal Prints
Materials
Lithograph
Brown Pelican /// John James Audubon New Orleans Ornithology Animal Bird Art
By John James Audubon
Located in Saint Augustine, FL
Artist: John James Audubon (American, 1785-1851)
Title: "Brown Pelican" (Plate 424, No. 85)
Portfolio: The Birds of America, First Royal Octavo Edition
Year: 1840-1844
Medium: Origin...
Category
1840s Victorian Joseph Wolf Animal Prints
Materials
Watercolor, Lithograph
American Anhinga - Snake Bird /// John James Audubon Ornithology Natural History
By John James Audubon
Located in Saint Augustine, FL
Artist: John James Audubon (American, 1785-1851)
Title: "American Anhinga - Snake Bird" (Plate 420, No. 84)
Portfolio: The Birds of America, First Royal Octavo Edition
Year: 1840-1844
Medium: Original Hand-Colored Lithograph on wove paper
Limited edition: approx. 1,200
Printer: John T. Bowen, Philadelphia, PA
Publisher: John James Audubon and J.B. Chevalier, New York, NY and Philadelphia, PA
Sheet size: 10" x 6.69"
Image size: 6.63" x 4.63"
Condition: Minor toning to sheet and some faint discoloration in margins. Old glue staining along right binding edge as normal. It is otherwise in very good condition with strong colors
Notes:
Provenance: private collection - Cleveland, OH. Lithography and hand-coloring by American artist John T. Bowen (1801-c.1856). Comes from Audubon's famous seven volume portfolio "The Birds of America", First Royal Octavo Edition (1840-1844), which consists of 500 hand-colored lithographs. The preceding 1836 Havell edition of this work has a different title: "Black-bellied Darter", (Plate: CCCXVI - 396, No. 64).
Based on a drawing inscribed "New Orleans 1822 - redrawn ... 1836". This conspicuous bird had various names including "water turkey" and "Bec à Lancette".
The Anhinga, sometimes called snakebird, darter, American darter, or water turkey, is a water bird of the warmer parts of the Americas. The word anhinga comes from a'ñinga in the Brazilian Tupi language and means "devil bird" or "snake bird".
To make 'The Birds of America' more affordable and widely available, in 1839 John James Audubon began the first octavo edition, a smaller version of the folio which was printed and hand-colored by J. T. Bowen in Philadelphia. Employing a new invention, the camera lucida, the images were reduced in size, rendered in intermediate drawings by John James Audubon and his son John Woodhouse, and then drawn onto lithographic stones. These miniatures exhibit a remarkable amount of attention to quality and detail, as well as a meticulous fidelity to the larger works. Some compositional changes were made in order to accommodate the smaller format. Like the Havell edition, John James Audubon’s first...
Category
1840s Victorian Joseph Wolf Animal Prints
Materials
Watercolor, Lithograph
Bonaparte’s Flycatching-Warbler (Great Magnolia) /// Ornithology Bird Audubon
By John James Audubon
Located in Saint Augustine, FL
Artist: John James Audubon (American, 1785-1851)
Title: "Bonaparte’s Flycatching-Warbler (Great Magnolia)" (Plate 73, No. 15)
Portfolio: The Birds of America, First Royal Octavo Edition
Year: 1840-1844
Medium: Original Hand-Colored Lithograph on wove paper
Limited edition: approx. 1,200
Printer: John T. Bowen, Philadelphia, PA
Publisher: John James Audubon and J.B. Chevalier, New York, NY and Philadelphia, PA
Sheet size: 10.5" x 6.5"
Image size: 7.5" x 5.63"
Condition: Minor area of discoloration upper right corner. In excellent condition with strong colors
Notes:
Lithography and hand-coloring by American artist John T. Bowen (1801-c.1856). Comes from Audubon's famous seven volume portfolio "The Birds of America", First Royal Octavo Edition (1840-1844), which consists of 500 hand-colored lithographs.
Based on a composition painted on August 13, 1821.
The Canada warbler is a small boreal songbird of the New World warbler family. It summers in Canada and northeastern United States and winters in northern South America.
To make 'The Birds of America' more affordable and widely available, in 1839 John James Audubon began the first octavo edition, a smaller version of the folio which was printed and hand-colored by J. T. Bowen in Philadelphia. Employing a new invention, the camera lucida, the images were reduced in size, rendered in intermediate drawings by John James Audubon and his son John Woodhouse, and then drawn onto lithographic stones. These miniatures exhibit a remarkable amount of attention to quality and detail, as well as a meticulous fidelity to the larger works. Some compositional changes were made in order to accommodate the smaller format. Like the Havell edition, John James Audubon’s first...
Category
1840s Victorian Joseph Wolf Animal Prints
Materials
Watercolor, Lithograph
Townsend's Cormorant /// John James Audubon Ornithology Bird Art Natural History
By John James Audubon
Located in Saint Augustine, FL
Artist: John James Audubon (American, 1785-1851)
Title: "Townsend's Cormorant" (Plate 418, No. 84)
Portfolio: The Birds of America, First Royal Octavo Edition
Year: 1840-1844
Medium: Original Hand-Colored Lithograph on wove paper
Limited edition: approx. 1,200
Printer: John T. Bowen, Philadelphia, PA
Publisher: John James Audubon and J.B. Chevalier, New York, NY and Philadelphia, PA
Sheet size: 10.13" x 6.5"
Image size: 4.38" x 5"
Condition: Light toning to sheet. Some light foxing and small areas of discoloration. Remnants of mounting tape from previous framing on verso. The white background was recently also hand-colored. In otherwise good condition with strong colors
Notes:
Provenance: private collection - Nashville, TN; acquired from a gallery in Nashville, TN. Lithography and hand-coloring by American artist John T. Bowen (1801-c.1856). Comes from Audubon's famous seven volume portfolio "The Birds of America", First Royal Octavo Edition (1840-1844), which consists of 500 hand-colored lithographs.
Based on a composition probably painted in London in 1838, from a specimen obtained near the mouth of the Columbia River.
Brandt's cormorant is a strictly marine bird of the cormorant family of seabirds that inhabits the Pacific coast of North America. It ranges, in the summer, from Alaska to the Gulf of California, but the population north of Vancouver Island migrates south during the winter.
To make 'The Birds of America' more affordable and widely available, in 1839 John James Audubon began the first octavo edition, a smaller version of the folio which was printed and hand-colored by J. T. Bowen in Philadelphia. Employing a new invention, the camera lucida, the images were reduced in size, rendered in intermediate drawings by John James Audubon and his son John Woodhouse, and then drawn onto lithographic stones. These miniatures exhibit a remarkable amount of attention to quality and detail, as well as a meticulous fidelity to the larger works. Some compositional changes were made in order to accommodate the smaller format. Like the Havell edition, John James Audubon’s first...
Category
1840s Victorian Joseph Wolf Animal Prints
Materials
Watercolor, Lithograph
Birds of Paradise, German antique natural history chromolithograph print
Located in Melbourne, Victoria
'Paradiesvogel'
(Birds of Paradise)
German chromolithograph, circa 1895.
240mm by 155mm (sheet)
Category
Late 19th Century Naturalistic Joseph Wolf Animal Prints
Materials
Lithograph
$65
H 9.45 in W 6.11 in
Virginian Opossum: An Original Audubon Hand-colored Lithograph
By John James Audubon
Located in Alamo, CA
This is an original John James Audubon hand-colored lithograph entitled "Virginian Opossum", No. 14, Plate LXVI, 66, from John James Audubon's Quadrupeds of North America, drawn on s...
Category
Mid-19th Century Naturalistic Joseph Wolf Animal Prints
Materials
Lithograph
$700 Sale Price
20% Off
H 10.5 in W 7 in
Previously Available Items
"Lady Amherst Pheasant (Thaumalea Amherstiae)" Naturalistic Bird Lithograph
By Joseph Wolf
Located in Houston, TX
Naturalistic lithograph of birds by German artist Joseph Wolf and lithographer John Gerard Keulemans. Earth toned lithographic print depicting a female and...
Category
1870s Naturalistic Joseph Wolf Animal Prints
Materials
Lithograph
H 20.5 in W 24.5 in D 1 in
Joseph Wolf animal prints for sale on 1stDibs.
Find a wide variety of authentic Joseph Wolf animal prints available for sale on 1stDibs. You can also browse by medium to find art by Joseph Wolf in gouache, lithograph, paint and more. Not every interior allows for large Joseph Wolf animal prints, so small editions measuring 24 inches across are available. Customers who are interested in this artist might also find the work of Ohara Koson, John Gould and Henry Constantine Richter, and Maria Sybilla Merian. Joseph Wolf animal prints prices can differ depending upon medium, time period and other attributes. On 1stDibs, the price for these items starts at $7,008 and tops out at $15,927, while the average work can sell for $15,927.
Artists Similar to Joseph Wolf
John Gould and Henry Constantine Richter