Arthur Wardle - Blue Tits

Arthur Wardle - Blue Tits

£750

ARTHUR WARDLE

(1864-1949)


Blue Tits


Pastel over traces of pencil

Framed


21 by 17 cm., 8 ¼ by 6 ¾ in.

(frame size 44.5 by 39.5 cm., 17 ½ by 15 ½ in.)


Provenance:

By descent in the family of the artist.


Arthur Wardle was born in London.  He first exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1880 when he was aged only 16 and thereafter was a regular and frequent exhibitor there and at many other London and provincial venues.  His early work seemed to concentrate on landscape and rustic scenes but from the 1890s the began to explore the subject matter for which he was to become so famous, namely domestic and wild animals, and big cats in particular.  He soon established a reputation for exhibiting large mythological and dramatic subjects which gave him the opportunity to include lions, tigers, leopards and occasionally even polar bears.  As Wardle lived in St John’s Wood he was close to London Zoo, which provided him with the chance to study his subjects closely.  As a regular visitor to the zoo and botanical gardens he made numerous sketches the animals, wildlife and plants he saw around him to work on into the large canvases in his studio.  


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