Archibald Thorburn
{{Short description|Scottish artist (1860–1935)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}
Archibald Thorburn FZS (31 May 1860, Lasswade, Midlothian – 9 October 1935, Hascombe, Surrey) [http://www.rampantscotland.com/timeline/2000.htm Rampant Scotland] was a Scottish artist who specialised in wildlife, painting mostly in watercolour. He explored Scotland to sketch birds in the wild, his favourite haunt being the Forest of Gaick near Kingussie in Invernesshire. His widely reproduced images of British wildlife, with their evocative and dramatic backgrounds, are enjoyed as much today as they were by naturalists a century ago.
Life and work
File:Archibald Thorburn, Peacock and Peacock Butterfly, At 87.5 x 111.5cm. Bonhams..jpg
File:Archibald Thorburn Danger aloft - Ptarmigan 1927.jpg
File:Archibald Thorburn05a.jpg]]
Archibald was born at Viewfield House, Lasswade, Midlothian, the fifth son of Robert Thorburn (1818–1885), portrait miniaturist to Queen Victoria. His first education was at Dalkeith and in Edinburgh, after which he was sent to the newly founded St John's Wood School of Art in London. His stay there was only brief, since on the death of his father he sought the guidance of Joseph Wolf. It was his commission in 1887 to illustrate Lord Lilford's Coloured Figures of the Birds of the British Isles, for which he painted some 268 watercolours, that established his reputation. He illustrated numerous sporting and natural history books, including his own. He taught Otto Murray Dixon and Philip Rickman (both in Nature in Art's collection), and he encouraged the young Donald Watson when he came to visit him in Dumfries and Galloway. Thorburn was friends with other eminent bird illustrators including George Edward Lodge and John Guille Millais with whom he collaborated on a number of works including: Natural History of British Feeding Ducks; British Diving Ducks and British Game Birds.
His paintings were regularly exhibited at the Royal Academy and he designed their first Christmas card for the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds in 1899, a practice that he continued until 1935.[http://www.exploringsurreyspast.org.uk/themes/people/artists/thorburn_a Exploring Surrey's Past] He was Vice-President of the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds. In the 1890s Thorburn became disheartened by the British Institution and had his work shown at A. Baird Carter of 70 Jermyn Street.
On his marriage to Constance Mudie, Thorburn moved to High Leybourne in Hascombe in 1902, where he was to spend the rest of his life. In the 1930s he refused to make use of electric lighting, preferring natural light for his painting, and making use of lamps and candles. His grave is at St John the Baptist church in Busbridge, Godalming.[http://www.christies.com/LotFinder/lot_details.aspx?intObjectID=5123806 Christie's]
Books illustrated
File:Archibald Thorburn Dormice 1903.jpg
- 1882 Sketches of Bird Life - J E Harting
- 1883–88 [https://archive.org/details/familiarwildbird01swayuoft Familiar Wild Birds] - W.F. Swaysland (a Sussex naturalist and taxidermist), 144 plates, 4 volumes[http://www.artnet.com/artwork/425857695/424105897/archibald-thorburn-pheasants.html ArtNet]
- 1885–97 Coloured Figures of the Birds of the British Isles - Lord Lilford, 268 watercolours, 7 volumes
- 1895 Ornithology of the Straits of Gibraltar by Leonard Howard Loyd Irby{{cite book|last=Irby|first=Leonard Howard Loyd|title=The ornithology of the Straits of Gibraltar|year=1895|url=https://archive.org/details/ornithologyofstr00irbyrich}}
- 1896 The Deer Forests of Scotland by Arthur Grimble, 8 plates
- 1915-16 British Birds - 4 volumes
- 1920 British Mammals
- 1920–25 The Birds of the British Isles and their eggs - Thomas Coward
- 1937 Observer Book of British Birds
- 1997 The Complete Illustrated Thorburn's Birds - Wordsworth Editions Ltd., {{ISBN|978-1-85326-492-4}}
- Thorburn's mammals - text by Gordon Corbet, Wordsworth Editions Ltd., {{ISBN|1-85326-493-8}}
File:Archibald Thorburn, Pair of Golden Eagles. Bonhams.jpg|Pair of Golden Eagles
File:A Greenland or Gyr Falcon.jpg|A Greenland or Gyr Falcon
File:WesternTragopan.jpg|Western Tragopan
File:Archibald Thorburn Little Owl and Scops Owl.jpg|Little Owl and Scops Owl
File:Grave of Archibald Thorburn.jpg in Surrey]]
See also
- List of wildlife artists
- Eliza Turck (1832–1891), who also produced many illustrations for the 1883 edition of "Familiar Wild Birds".
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
{{Commons category|Archibald Thorburn}}
- {{Internet Archive author |sname=Archibald Thorburn}}
- [https://www.finerareprints.com/archibald-thorburn-antique-bird-prints Birds by Archibald Thorburn] - Examples at [http://www.finerareprints.com/ 'Fine Rare Prints'].
- [http://www.oiseaux.net/photos/archibald.thorburn/ Oiseaux]
- [https://www.flickr.com/search/?tags=artist:viaf=41942046 Illustrations by Archibald Thorburn in Flickr Commons]
- [https://www.thegreatcat.org/the-cat-in-art-and-photos-2/cats-in-19th-century-art/archibald-thorburn-1860-1935-scottish/ Thorburn's Cats]
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Category:Scottish illustrators
Category:Fellows of the Zoological Society of London
Category:Scottish watercolourists
Category:People from Midlothian
Category:Scottish ornithologists
Category:19th-century Scottish painters
Category:Scottish male painters
Category:20th-century Scottish painters