Philip Rickman SARUS CRANES

1963. Painting. Illus. by Philip Rickman. Fine. Framed. Signed by THE ARTIST. Original. A large and imposing, watercolour and gouache painting of a pair of Sarus Cranes signed and dated "Philip Rickman 1963" bottom left. Painted on blue grey paper, 600 x 825 mm, the contemporary frame 690 x 895 mm. In very good condition, no obvious fading or other defects, though frame is a little chipped. Provenance. This painting of Sarus Cranes was almost certainly painted for a monograph on the cranes and commissioned by Christopher Marler, but in the event was never published. Paul A. Johnsgard, in his book "A Chorus of Cranes" writes in the preface "...I was asked to write a general essay on Crane biology and some accompanying short accounts of the cranes of the world, to be published in conjunction with a series of life-sized oil paintings of cranes done by the late English artist Philip Rickman and owned by my friend Christopher Marler. That project never materialised..." Christopher Marler was very much a waterfowl man; he had his own zoo with an extensive collection of birds, was heavily involved with the Wildfowl Trust, International Wild Waterfowl Association, The British Waterfowl Association, and sometime president of The Avicultural Society. Clearly capable and well-connected, and it would appear that he was personally friendly with Rickman, certainly a number of Rickman paintings are dedicated to him. [Biography - Philip Rickman (1891 - 1982) was known affectionately as The Grand Old Man of British Bird Painting, and make no mistake, he was one of the greatest ornithological artists of the twentieth century. However Rickman is somewhat out of fashion today and his work does not always garner the attention it should. Christine Jackson writes "At his best he could match Thorburn...but he was inconsistent"* and herein lies the problem: when at his best he was outstanding, the best of the best, but he was prolific and not infrequently produced indifferent work. It is this that has sullied his reputation, but at Loe Art we strive to stock only the best examples of an artist's work and we carry a very large stock of Rickman paintings, from large monumental watercolours to small pencil sketches full of life and vitality. To quote Christine Jackson again "[he] learnt to sketch in the field and base his work on accurate observation noting the landscape in which birds lived and how the changing weather affected the landscape. Rickman became a very skillful watercolour artist able to recreate atmosphere." This is perhaps no better displayed than when he painted birds around water, especially when raining or at the dawn, where he was able to evoke ethereal scenes, utterly convincing to those observers of nature familiar with such landscapes at such times. He was precisely accurate to a minute degree but his birds looked natural. That Rickman was a naturalist who had a deep respect for his subjects shows in the manner in which he paints them in the middle of characteristic movements and traits that render them look true to life. "He was friends with both George Edward Lodge and Archibald Thorburn, where he spent time with the former at his studio and "learnt from Thorburn how to use colour to place birds in the fore-, middle and backgrounds", of whom he was a great admirer. On one occasion he commissioned Thorburn to paint a watercolour of grouse, but when it was completed, despite being delighted with it, requested Thorburn to undertake a few revisions as he felt the anatomy of the birds portrayed was incorrect. This perhaps sums up Rickman: an outstanding artist, but above all a man with a deep-seated respect for the birds he portrayed. He should be represented in every collection of ornithological art. Rickman illustrated numerous books, which are listed in the publication highlighted below.* Jackson, Christine. Dictionary of Bird Artists of the World. Antique Collectors' Club. Woodbridge, Suffolk. 1999. [All quotes from this work.].