Wednesday, January 30, 2019

Asian Art Deco #4B: For the Birds - The Ornithological Prints of Elyse Ashe Lord

In a prior post, I discussed the life of printmaker Elise Ashe Lord, and attempted to catalog her known prints depicting musicians.   As a second step toward creating an on-line catalog of Lord's prints, this post will focus on Lord's bird prints.  Unless otherwise indicated, all of the following are colored etchings (usually drypoints) with color applied by hand or with woodblocks.

The titles for many of these prints are unknown at this time.  Many are designs after Chinese tapestries and often bear generic titles such as "K'o ssu" or "Chinese."  I'm sufficiently ornithologically and botanically challenged that I've  largely refrained from attempting to identify most of the birds and flora depicted by Lord in her prints.  If an attributed or descriptive title is given, chances that it is a title ascribed to it by a dealer and should be taken with a grain of salt.


B001 - [Bird and Loquats]

Edition unknown

Note: The seller called this a woodblock print.    


B002 - [Bird and Prunus Bough]

Edition unknown

Note:  The plate for this print was destroyed.



B003 - Bird Ears

Edition of 75  


B004 - [Bird of Paradise]

Edition unknown


B005 - [Bird with a Long Tail on a Branch]

Edition unknown




B006 - [Bird with Hydrangea]

Edition of 75



B007 - [Birds on a Branch]

Edition unknown



B008 - [Birds on Blossoms]
Edition Unknown


B009 - [Blue Bird and Peony]
Edition of 75

B010 - [Chickens]
Edition of 75
Courtesy of Robyn Buntin of Honolulu Gallery

B011 - Chinese [Bird and Cherry Blossom]
Edition of 75

 B012 - Chinese [Ducks in a Pond]
Edition of 75

B013 - Chinese [Flycatcher and Laurel]
Edition of 75

B014 - Chinese [Singing Bird]
Edition of 75

B015 - [Couple Beneath a Tree]
Edition of 75
Courtesy of Harris Schrank Fine Prints

B016 - Dodos
Edition unknown

Note: Exhibited at the Ackermann Gallery in 1936.

 
B017 - Doves and Blossom
Edition unknown

 
B018 - [Figure with Blackbirds]
Edition of 100
Courtesy of Goldmark Gallery
L:  pencil with watercolor wash; R: colored etching

 
B019 - [Fledglings]
Edition of 75

'
B020 [M016] - Flute
Edition of 75

Note: Part of a series that includes Banjo and Bongoes.


B021 - Illusion

Edition of 100

L:  watercolor drawing on silk (courtesy of Gerrish Fine Art); R: colored etching


B022 -  K'o ssu [Bird and Blossom]

Edition unknown

Courtesy of the Bridget McDonnell Gallery


B023 - K'o ssu [Bird and Prunus Blossom]

Edition of 75

B024 - K'o ssu [Bird Perched on Magnolia Bough]

Edition of 75

Note: A print called "Bird and Magnolia" was exhibited by Cyril Gerber Fine Art in 1990.


 

B025 - K'o ssu [Bird with Rotting Fruit]

Edition of 75



B026 - K'o ssu [Blue Bird on Blossoming Branch] (pre-1938)

Edition of 75

Courtesy of the Annex Galleries


B027 - K'o ssu [Kingfisher on a Flowering Branch]
Edition of 75

B028 - K'o ssu [Swallows]
Edition of 75

B029 - K'o ssu [Yellow Bird on Flowering Bough]
Edition of 75

B030 - [Love Birds]
Edition unknown
(etching with chalk/pastel; one source calls it pastel over lithographic base}

B031 - The Love Song (Rimsky-Korsakov's "Chanson Hindoue") (pre-1929)
Edition of 50

Note: Exhibited at the Lefevre Galleries, Nov.-Dec. 1928, and at the Ackermann Gallery in 1936.

B032 - Magpie
Edition unknown

Note: Exhibited by Cyril Gerber Fine Art in 1990 (could be an alternate title for another print shown in this post, such as "Bird and Prunus Bough."

B033 - [Mother and Young]
Edition of 75

B034 - On A Lordly Dish
Edition of 75

B035 - On The Terrace (aka "The Stork" or "The Crane") (pre-1929)
Edition of 100

Note: Exhibited at the Lefevre Galleries, Nov.-Dec. 1928, and at the Ackermann Gallery in 1936.  The original watercolor drawing on silk was also exhibited at the Lefevre Galleries, Nov.-Dec. 1928.


B036 - A Page From The Artist's Sketchbook
Edition of 75


B037 - [A Pair of Jays]
Edition of 75


B038 - Parakeets (pre-1929)
Edition of 75

Note: Exhibited at the Lefevre Galleries, Nov.-Dec. 1928 and at the Ackermann Gallery in 1936.  An original drawing on silk with this title was also exhibited at Walter Bull & Sanders, Ltd., Nov. 1931 but may or may not relate to this print design.


B039 - [Pheasants Feeding]

Edition unknown


Note: A watercolor study on silk is known to exist.


B040 - [Pheasants on a Branch aka "Hen and Cock Pheasant"]
Edition of 75

B041 - [Phoenix Dancers]
Edition of 100

B042 - The Rose Garden of Sa'di (pre-1929)
Edition of 100

Note: Exhibited at the Lefevre Galleries, Nov.-Dec. 1928 and by the Chicago Society of Etchers in 1931.  The original watercolor drawing on silk was also exhibited at the Lefevre Galleries, Nov..-Dec. 1928.

B043 - The Seamstress (aka "Sewing")
Edition of 75

B044 - [Singing Birds]
Edition unknown

Note: Exhibited at the Ackermann Gallery in 1936.





B045 [M035] - The Song of the Pineapple

Edition Unknown


B046 - [Two Feathers (?) or The Goddess(?)]

Edition of 75

Note: A print called "Two Feathers" was exhibited at the Lefevre Galleries, Nov.-Dec. 1928 and at the Ackermann Gallery in 1936, but some on-line sources ascribe that title to a different print.


B047 - [Two Ladies]

Edition of 100


B048 - Two Singing Birds

Edition unknown

Note: Exhibited by Cyril Gerber Fine Art in 1990 (but could be an alternate title for another print shown in this post).



B049 - [Vireos with Peaches]

Edition of 75

B050 - Windy Sleeves (pre-1929)
Edition of 100
Personal Collection
L:  watercolor drawing on silk; R: colored etching

Note: Both were exhibited at the Lefevre Galleries, Nov.-Dec. 1928.  The print design was also exhibited at the Ackermann Gallery in 1936.

B051 - The Wooing of Riza (pre-1932)
Edition Unknown

Note: The original watercolor drawing on silk for this print was exhibited at Walter Bull & Sanders, Ltd., Nov. 1931.  

There are, as yet, no known prints corresponding to the following Lord paintings:
>
 Leda and the Swan(watercolor)

 
Mandarin Drake
Courtesy of the Bridget McDonnell Gallery
(pencil and ink with wash)

Macaws
(watercolor)

The Two Storks
Courtesy of the Goldmark Gallery
(pencil with wash)

Other Lord watercolor studies known to exist:
Snowy Egret (exhibited at Walter Bull & Sanders, Ltd., Nov. 1931)
The Squawking Peacock (exhibited at Walter Bull & Sanders, Ltd., Nov. 1931)
Study "Bird" (exhibited at the Ackermann Gallery in 1936)

If you've read this far, it should be apparent that this list of bird prints is no doubt incomplete, and information about these prints is in need of further annotation.  If a reader is aware of a missing Lord print or painting of a bird (or a correct title or edition size), please let me know and I will add it to the list. 

If a comment box does not appear below, click on this link instead: http://easternimp.blogspot.com/2019/01/asian-art-deco-4b-for-birds.html

Have a comment?:

Post a Comment