Album: Archibald Thorburn's Pheasants
Archibald Thorburn was born in 1860, in Lasswade, Scotland the fifth son of the miniaturist Robert Thorburn ARA. He is now acknowledged as one of the greatest painters of birdlife of all time. It was perhaps from his father that Archibald Thorburn acquired the ability to create his minutely detailed paintings and he sketched from a very early age. He painted birds, animals and flowers but he specialised in the study of game birds, as he had a tremendous knowledge of ornithology. He first exhibited at the Royal Academy at the age of 20, and was a regular figure there throughout the 1880s and 1890s. At the end of the 1890s he became disillusioned with the Academy and exhibited instead at A Baird Carter, in Jermyn Street. Thorburn was also sufficiently highly-regarded by his contemporaries to have been asked to paint Queen Victoria on three separate occasions. Generally preferring to work in watercolour, Thorburns skill, artistic talent and scientific observation ensured that he was recognised as one of the leading artists of his time. He died in 1935 in Hascombe, England.
In addition to authoring several textbooks of Natural History including 'British Birds' and 'British Mammals', Thorburn illustrated many other books including 'The Pheasant: Natural History' and 'The Grouse' by Hugh Alexander Macpherson, 'Autumns in Argyleshire with Rod and Gun' by Alfred Erskine Gathorne Hardy, 'Fishing and Shooting' by Sydney Buxton, and 'A Countryman's Creed' by Edward Charles Keith. 'Archibald Thorburn' by Lorne E. Render, Glenbow-Alberta Institute was published in 1974. The National Museum of Wildlife Art in Jackson Hole, WY has a collection of his work. Some images courtesy of http://store.encore-editions.com/artist/archibaldthorburn.html
