Thorburn Watercolor of Great Grey Owl

A Great Grey Owl
Archibald Thorburn (1860-1935).
Gouache on paper
Signed lower left
27 x 34 3/4 inches framed
Archibald Thorburn was the most sought after and successful ornithological artist of his day.
The exceptional watercolors of Archibald Thorburn are extremely sought after on the auction market and have achieved remarkable prices of late. Most recently the famed Astor Collection From Tillypronie, Aberdeenshire, which sold at Christie's London on 15 December 15th 2017.
Harriet Drummond, International Head of British Drawings & Watercolours at Christie's said regarding the Astor collection "It is Thorburn's technical skill, his attention to detail and accuracy - providing authentic landscapes and plants for his depictions of birds, that made his work not only compelling in his lifetime but also today."
From 1900 until his death in 1935, Archibald Thorburn was the most sought after and successful ornithological artist of his day and his complete mastery of the field has led to his continued influence today. First trained by his father, the Scottish miniaturist Robert Thorburn (who painted Queen Victoria), Thorburn honed his skill by studying from nature, filling multiple sketchbooks with his studies of birds in their natural habitat. Even after he moved South of the border, he would return to Scotland every year to paint. His first major opportunity came when he took over from J.G. Keulemans as the painter selected to complete Lord Lilford's exhaustive survey Coloured Figures of the Birds of the British Isles (1885-1897) for which he painted 268 watercolours.
These masterful watercolors are important examples of Thorburn's most outstanding work. Unlike many of his contemporaries, Thorburn was a highly skilled landscape painter and excelled at creating evocative, often dramatic backgrounds for his subjects. Technically flawless and beautifully colored, these stunning and nuanced watercolors are exceptional original works by a distinguished British natural history painter. No collector, admirer or enthusiast should miss the opportunity to continue to collect some of Thorburn's finest works.