JF Lansdowne (1 Viewer)

Hi
I work for a charity based in Wales UK and have just come across some pictures by JF Lansdowne. I am completely clueless about art and cannot tell if they are original paintings, prints or something else altogether. I have 13 of them and they are really beautiful pictures of various birds, I think they are part of the Northern Forest collection but cannot be sure. Does anyone out there know anything about the artist, art, how to spot an original painting etc?

According to Twentieth Century Wildlife Artists (pub - 1986) J Fenwick Lansdowne was born in Hong Kong in 1937. At 10 months of age caught polio which left him 75% paralysed. In 1955 just before graduating from high school transparencies of his were seen by a director of the Canadian Audubon Society (his family had moved to Canada) which led to an exhibition of his work in the Royal Ontario Museum in 1956. Several books followed his first (Birds of the Northern Forest - 1966). In the 1980s he was involved in painting a series of painting of endangered birds of China. I'm sure a search online would bring you further up to date,

John

That's about all I know too, John. I have a feeling there are one or two fans on this forum, so if they would come forward it may be a help? (I'm not one, by the way.)

Not a fan either but he's pretty well collected isn't he? To establish if you have prints or originals, look closely at the pigment, preferably through a magnifying glass. If you can see dots, patterns, lines etc then you have prints which is most likely. I hope for the sake of the charity that you have originals! Take care of them either way as they may be of some value especially if the prints are some sort of limited edition.

Sadly it is most likely though that what you have are massed produced 'decorator' prints which are only really worth what somebody is prepared to pay for them as decorative items. Good luck with finding out more and do let us know how you get on.

Mike