Basil Ede (b. 1931)
Cardinals on Maple Leaves
British: 1972
Watercolor and gouache with traces of pencil,
on thick light-blue paper
Signed and dated lower right: Basil Ede © 1972
Basil Ede numeration: BE #105
19.75 x 12.25 inches, image
20.5 x 12.75 inches, overall sheet size
27.5 x 19.75 inches, vintage gold-leaf frame with French mat
Provenance: Kennedy Galleries, New York City
(two labels verso of frame)
Sold, please inquire as to the availability of similar items.
Basil Ede -- Original Watercolor
Cardinals on Maple Leaves
Cardinals on Maple Leaves
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Framed (above left), full sheet showing edges hidden by frame (above right), signature (below center). |
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An original watercolor and gouache painting of cardinals amongst maple leaves, by Basil Ede, one of the best 20th century ornithological artists. Two males perch on either side of a female on the branch of a maple tree, with autumnal red-tinged leaves that cleverly complement the hues of the birds in a subtle compositional touch. This work is an example of why Basil Ede is so highly regarded as a bird artist: he accomplishes the complex feat of incorporating painstaking detail of forms, plumage, and the surrounding foliage within an artistic composition that is nonetheless natural and lifelike. This painting was framed with Kennedy Galleries labels, and was likely first exhibited there.
Basil Ede was born in Surrey, England, and as a child became familiar with the wildlife in the surrounding countryside. He befriended a local artist for the Zoological Society and received some informal instruction in natural history drawing. As a 25 year-old ship's purser, he traveled to the Far East, where he was inspired by Asian art. Meanwhile, he had also taken up bird-watching as a hobby, and decided to bring these two avocations together. He began exhibiting in London in 1958 at the Tryon Gallery, the first specialist wildlife gallery there. By 1964, he was able to devote his full time to ornithological painting. That year, he had his first American show at the Smithsonian's National Collection of Fine Arts in 1964 – the first ever given at that institution to a living artist -- and prepared 36 plates for the popular book Birds of Town and Village, published the following year and reprinted in several subsequent editions. Kennedy Galleries in New York became his American dealer in 1966, and published a catalog of his work to accompany an exhibition in 1979 of more than 30 paintings. These included paintings commissioned by Jack W. Warner, CEO of Gulf Paper States Paper Corporation in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, for a series of life-size bird paintings, Wild Birds of America. This project spanned the years 1975 to 1989, and the paintings became the basis for a series of limited edition prints. Ede's works have also been collected by Prince Philip of Great Britain and the Ulster Museum in Northern Ireland, among others, and have been featured in numerous other gallery and museum exhibitions.
Throughout his career, Basil Ede traveled the world to observe birds in their habitats, taking photographs and making sketches. He also has typically made use of museum specimens. In the introduction to the 1981 book Basil Ede's Birds, Ede explained that he conceived of his bird portraits in terms of the personality of the species, as expressed by "the movement of the body" and "deployment of feathers." He painted in watercolor, in a process that took him from rough sketches to the "painstaking and time-consuming finish." Ede’s extraordinary abilities were summed up by Carl W. Buchheister, President Emeritus of the National Audubon Society, in the preface to Basil Ede's Birds:
Technical ability is, to be sure, essential for the artist, but to impart lifelike qualities and personality to one's subjects requires the abilities of the true master. … This can be acquired only from long hours in the field, in an intimate study of the living bird. … Every Ede painting gives eloquent manifestation of such knowledge and understanding.
Kennedy Label No. 1 verso: "Artist Ede, Basil; Dates 1931-; Title Cardinals on Maple Leaves; Size and Medium 20 x 12" wc; Stock No. 205010.0105. Kennedy Galleries, Inc., Founded 1874 by H. Wunderlich, 40 W. 57 St., 5th Floor, N.Y. 10019, 212-541-9600, Telex: 14-8381. [Handwritten price: $2,200.00]
Kennedy Label No. 2 verso: Artist Ede, Basil; Title Cardinals on Maple Leaves; Size and Medium 20 x 12" watercolor; Stock No. BE#105. Kennedy Galleries, Inc., 20 East 65th Street, New York, N.Y. 10022. Founded 1874 by H. Wunderlich. 758-3850.
Additional title and exhibition label verso: 10. Basil Ede/ Cardinals on Maple/ watercolor; 20 x 12 inches
Two labels verso and handwritten in pencil with Kennedy Galleries stock number: BE #105
References:
Dougall, Robert et al. Basil Ede's Birds. New York: Van Nostrand Reinhold, 1981.
Wunderlich, Gerold M. Basil Ede: American Birds. October 17th to November 10th, 1979. New York: Kennedy Galleries, 1979.