03/03/2025 General, Asian Works of Art
NEW YORK, NY -- The sale of Asian Works of Art: Part II offers collectors an exciting opportunity to acquire Rare Birds of China, a spectacular folio of 32 superb color collotypes after watercolors by J. Fenwick Lansdowne. The magnificent large-scale plates measure 32 x 25 inches (81 x 63 cm), each signed and numbered. Copy 37 from an edition of 100, this impressive folio is consigned by the Estate of Elaine and James D. Wolfensohn, the former President of the World Bank. Read More
The folio is offered together with the original watercolor painted by Lansdowne for the plate of the Taiwan Magpie (Urocissa caerulea), signed by Lansdowne and dated 1991. The Taiwan Magpie is represented by a male and female specimen in their natural habitat (see center plate above).
The watercolors painted by J. Fenwick Lansdowne for this work are among the highest achievements of ornithological art. A triumph in artistry, this set of elephant-folio-sized ornithological plates follows in the tradition of the great illustrated natural history monographs of the past centuries, such as John James Audubon's (1785-1851) masterpiece, The Birds of America.
J. Fenwick Lansdowne (1937-2008) was born in Hong Kong to British parents and grew up in British Columbia, Canada. Stricken with polio as a baby, he developed both his love of birds and his talent as a painter from a young age, holding his first museum exhibition in 1952 at the Royal British Columbia Museum when he was just fourteen years old. As one of the world's foremost wildlife painters, often referred to as Audubon's successor, he is the artist who best maintained the tradition of bird painting and publishing into the late 20th century. Similar to Audubon, he would both study his subjects in the field and use museum collections of preserved specimens to paint his highly detailed and accurate watercolors.
J. Fenwick Lansdowne was a master of avian portraiture, as evidenced by this remarkable folio. The color plates bring the rare birds of China to life through his meticulous depictions that blend scientific accuracy and artistic sensitivity.
Auction Wednesday, March 19, 2025 at 10am
Exhibition March 14 – 17
