Mallard (Anas platyrhynchos)

Mallard (Anas platyrhynchos), 1983. Artist's reproduction print after painting (date unknown) by James Fenwick Lansdowne RCA, OC, OBC (1937-2008): Note: Image to be replaced
Mallard (Anas platyrhynchos), 1983. Artist's reproduction print after painting (date unknown) by James Fenwick Lansdowne RCA, OC, OBC (1937-2008)

Note: Image to be replaced

Name/Title

Mallard (Anas platyrhynchos)

Entry/Object ID

2016.04.01

Description

Print Artist's reproduction print (1983) after painting (date unknown) by James Fenwick Lansdowne. This image is a detailed study of a male and female Mallard or Wild Duck (Anas platyrhynchos), a dabbling duck that breeds throughout the temperate and subtropical Americas, Eurasia and beyond. The Mallard is the most familiar wild duck to many people, and the ancestor of most strains of domesticated ducks.

Artwork Details

Medium

Print on paper

Made/Created

Artist Information

Artist

James Fenwick Lansdowne, RCA, OC, OBC (1937-2008)

Role

Artist

Artist

Unknown

Role

Printmaker

Date made

1983

Time Period

20th Century

Notes

ARTIST BIOGRAPHY Born in Hong Kong, James Fenwick Lansdowne was a self-taught Canadian wildlife artist, internationally recognized and often described as the successor to J. J. Audubon, North America's best-known wildlife artist. Lansdowne was taught to paint by his mother, an accomplished artist trained in traditional Chinese watercolour techniques. Lansdowne grew up in Victoria, B.C., his family having moved to Canada at the end of World War II. In high school, he studied the anatomy of birds at the Royal British Columbia Provincial Museum where, in 1952, he held his first exhibition at age fourteen. His second show of watercolours followed in 1956 at the Royal Ontario Museum where his work first attracted national attention. His first international exhibition followed in 1958 at the National Audubon Society in New York. This was followed in the 1960s and beyond by exhibitions in centres world-wide such as the Art Gallery of Greater Victoria; the Tryon Gallery in London, England; the Natural History Museum, Beijing; and the Smithsonian Institution, Washington. His work is held in private, corporate and public collections around the world, including that of the British Royal Family. Lansdowne’s technical and artistic ability to portray a bird in paint was extraordinary, and his subjects are thought by many to display a greater life-like quality and more natural posture than Audubon's. In Canada, he is perhaps best known for his five-volume large format series of books covering many of the country's birds "'Birds of the West Coast", "Birds of the Northern Forest", and "Birds of the Eastern Forest") or his "Rare Birds of China" ten-year project commissioned as a unique record of China's rare and endangered birds. In 1974, he was elected a member of the Royal Canadian Academy of Arts. In 1976, Lansdowne was made an Officer of the Order of Canada. In 1995, he was awarded the Order of British Columbia. He died in Victoria, B.C. at age 71. For further information see - J. Fenwick Lansdowne, “Birds of the Eastern Forest: Vol. 1” (1968), “Birds of the Eastern Forest: Vol. 2” (1970) and “Birds of the West Coast, Vol. I” (1980), available in the UCBC Library.

Edition

Edition

Artist's Special Edition

Edition Size

100

Edition Number

10

Inscription/Signature/Marks

Type

Signature, Date, Inscription

Location

Lower left in pencil: Artist's Special Edition 10/100 Lower centre printed: MALLARD by J. FENWICK LANSDOWNE Lower right printed: J.F. LANSDOWNE 1983 and signed below in pencil

Dimensions

Dimension Description

Support

Height

40.6 cm

Width

52.1 cm

Acquisition

Acquisition Method

Purchase

Date

2016

Notes

Lunds Lot # unavailable

Relationships

Related Entries

Notes

By James Fenwick Lansdowne: 2016.04.01 Mallard (Anas platyrhychos) 2016.04.02 Wood Duck (Aix sponsa) 2022.02.01 Pied-Billed Grebe (Podilymbus podiceps)