SKU: 10097
Raymond Sheppard
(1913 - 1958)
Mother attending to her two kittens, 1913-1958
£600
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Raymond Sheppard (1913 - 1958)
Black and white chalk, and pencil on paper, 8 5/8 x 8 5/8 in. (22 x 22 cm.)
(12 1/4 x 12 1/4 in. (31 x 31 cm.) framed)
Size:
Height – 22cm
Width – 22cm
Sheppard did not have the means to travel to Africa and based most of his drawings of animals observed at Regents Park Zoo. On the strength of these – through which he gained a reputation as one of the finest artists in this field – he was made a Fellow of the Zoological Society in 1949. In the same year, he published Drawing at the Zoo’, one of three collaborations made with The Studio magazine.
Sheppard’s output as a graphic artist was prodigious, but he is less well known today than he might be, partly on account of his early death, at the age of forty-five.
EH Gombrich references Raymond Sheppard’s ‘How to Draw Birds’, and includes a reproduction of one of his drawings, in his celebrated treatise ‘Art and Illusion’, (1960).
Raymond Sheppard; Artist in water-colour, black and white, oil, pastel;
Born London 3 March 1913; son of Edward and Annie Sheppard.
Married Iris Gale on December 3rd 1942; had one daughter Christine born 17
March 1944, and one son Michael born 25th July 1946. Educated
Christ’s College, Finchley, north west London.
Studied art at Bolt Court under S.G. Boxsius.
Exhibited:
R.A; R.I; R.S.A; Work reproduced regularly in publications
including Lilliput ; The Studio, Picture Post, John Bull, Everybody’s ;
in children’s books, nature books and calendars.
Raymond Sheppard produced many studies of birds and animals from life, mainly
at Regents Park Zoo and was made a Fellow of the Zoological Society in
1949. He also painted landscapes, family portraits, in watercolour,
oil, and pastels . He was a founder member of the Wapping Arts Group, a
group of artists who sketched and painted by and around the river
Thames in London, which was formed just before WW2 but did not start in
earnest until 1946.
Publications: How to Draw Birds (first
published by Studio in 1940), Drawing at the Zoo (1949 Studio), More
Birds to Draw (Studio 1956).
Lived in Kenton and then Harrow Weald, Middx. Clubs: Chelsea Arts, Langham Sketch.
Raymond Sheppard died in London of cancer in 1958 with which he had battled
since 1949. He also served in the RAF photographic section during the
WW2. Despite long periods of ill health and the interruption of the War
years he was, nevertheless, prolific in demonstrating his wide range of
artistic ability as a master draughtsman, illustrator, and landscape
and wildlife artist.
Had Raymond Sheppard lived beyond his mid 40s his reputation as one of the foremost illustrators of his generation might have been secured ‘ his premature death resulted in his name sinking into obscurity for half a century. Only his prolific career as an illustrator (nearly 100 children’s books in the single decade following the end of WW2) has prevented his name from disappearing altogether and secured him a credible place in the standard reference works of the period. What has never been appreciated before is the remarkable diversity of Raymond Sheppard’s oeuvre. Aside from his more familiar studies of wildlife his studio has revealed a series of remarkable portraits, thrilling boy’s-own period illustrations, plein air seascapes, landscapes, views of the Thames and surreal compositions, which at times verge on abstraction. All have in common Sheppard’s stated aim to express his inner emotion: “…that peculiar, unexplainable tightening inside that makes you want to laugh sometimes, sometimes to sing and dance for joy, and sometimes just a little sad.
