ARTHUR FITZWILLIAM TAIT (American 1819-1905). Changing Pasture, 1895. Oil on canvas. 14in. x 22in. (sight size). Signed and ...

Description

ARTHUR FITZWILLIAM TAIT (American 1819-1905)
Changing Pasture, 1895
Oil on canvas
14in. x 22in. (sight size)
Signed and dated lower right: A.F. Tait N.A./ N.Y. 95
Inscribed on verso: U.D. 1895/ "Changing Pasture"/ A.F. Tait N.A./ N.Y. 53 E 56st
Trinity College label on verso
Provenance: Trinity College, Hartford, CT # M-129
Literature: Warder H. Cadbury and Henry F. Marsh, Arthur Fitzwilliam Tait: Artist in the Adirondacks, (Cranbury, N.J.: Associated University Press, 1986), p. 301, cat. no. 95.21

Arthur Fitzwilliam Tait was born in Livesey Hall near Liverpool, England. At age 12, he began working at Agnew & Zanetti Repository of Art in Manchester, England, and painted part time. He taught himself to paint by copying original works at the Royal Institute in Manchester (now the City Art Gallery). In 1850 Tait moved to New York City and established a camp in the Adirondacks, where he spent his summers.

The Adirondacks proved to be an unending inspiration for him, and Tait soon became known for his paintings, watercolors, and sketches of hunting scenes and animals in their natural habitat. Tait's deer themes set in the mountainous landscapes of the Adirondacks became especially popular and even gained him worldwide recognition. Tait produced nearly 2,000 oils, watercolors, and sketches of frontier, animal, and hunting scenes -- testimony to why he is considered America's leading 19th century animal and sporting painter.

In 1852, Currier & Ives reproduced many of his paintings in lithographs, helping to expose Tait's art and name nationally. During the last half of the19th century, nearly 200 of Tait's paintings were shown at the National Academy of Design in New York, where he was elected Academician in 1858. His scenes of Adirondack wildlife were also exhibited at the prestigious Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, Brooklyn Art Association, Boston Art Club, and the Art Institute of Chicago. His artwork can be found in renowned museums, including The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Adirondack Museum, Yale University Art Gallery, Library of Congress, Denver Art Museum, Amon Carter Museum, Brooklyn Museum, and the Corcoran Gallery of Art.

Condition: minor craquelure, craquelure inpaint mid right edge and upper left area, otherwise good condition

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