Raymond Sheppard (1913 - 1958)

Sea Forms, circa 1950

£2,150.00

SKU: 2117
Signed
Watercolour, pen and ink

Presentation:
framed

Size:
Height – 38cm x Width – 45.8cm

1 in stock

DESCRIPTION

Provenance:
The Artist’s family

Litterature: Raymond Sheppard, Master Illustrator, Liss Fine Art, November 2010, Cat.78

Although best known as an illustrator, especially of magazines such as Lilliput, Picture Post and The Studio as well as of children’s books, Sheppard was one of the most gifted painters of wildlife of his generation. He was also an extremely diverse artist, producing semi-abstract and surrealist images alongside those of a purely realistic nature.  Christine, the artist’s daughter, served frequently as a model for her father.  Two works by Sheppard in the collection of the Victoria & Albert Museum (Bethnall Green) include portraits of her.

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).

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THE ARTIST

Raymond Sheppard
Raymond
Sheppard
1913 - 1958

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.

MORE PICTURES BY ARTIST

SKU: 6209

Raymond Sheppard (1913 - 1958)

Lion attacking Rhino

£875.00

SKU: 6195

Raymond Sheppard (1913 - 1958)

Rhino sleeping

£675.00

SKU: 6196

Raymond Sheppard (1913 - 1958)

Study of a Rhino head

£530.00

SKU: 6197

Raymond Sheppard (1913 - 1958)

Rhino head

£330.00

SKU: 5517

Raymond Sheppard (1913 - 1958)

Story board – Panic Party, Gun crew lying motionless, Periscope Up, Firing at U-Boat, Flooded Vessel, circa 1950

£400.00

SKU: 4873

Raymond Sheppard (1913 - 1958)

H.M.S. Goliath and The end of the Konisberg

£410.00

SKU: 4635

Raymond Sheppard (1913 - 1958)

Serval

£1,070.00

SKU: 4627

Raymond Sheppard (1913 - 1958)

Cristine imploring

£345.00

SKU: 4587

Raymond Sheppard (1913 - 1958)

Studies of an Impala

£1,550.00

SKU: 4584

Raymond Sheppard (1913 - 1958)

North Sea Incident, 1957

£860.00

SKU: 4575

Raymond Sheppard (1913 - 1958)

Christine and Teddy Bear, c. 1950s

£1,700.00

SKU: 4503

Raymond Sheppard (1913 - 1958)

Nets ad Lobster pots, Mudford, near Christchurch, Dorset,C, 1950’s

£1,600.00

SKU: 4461

Raymond Sheppard (1913 - 1958)

The Adventures of René Cutforth, c. 1956

£975.00

SKU: 4499

Raymond Sheppard (1913 - 1958)

Crsitine seated on a stool with doll caled Sylvie c. 1950

£1,290.00

SKU: 4437

Raymond Sheppard (1913 - 1958)

Michael with Toy Car, c.1952

£950.00

SKU: 4379

Raymond Sheppard (1913 - 1958)

Monarch of the Glen, circa 1935

£1,250.00

SKU: 3889

Raymond Sheppard (1913 - 1958)

Chipperfield Common Herts, circa 1950

£1,050.00

SKU: 3859

Raymond Sheppard (1913 - 1958)

Study of Tiger

£1,450.00

SKU: 3391

Raymond Sheppard (1913 - 1958)

Polar Bear

£1,730.00

SKU: 2111

Raymond Sheppard (1913 - 1958)

Self Portrait with the artist’s daughter Christine, c.1950

£630.00

SKU: 2117

Raymond Sheppard (1913 - 1958)

Sea Forms, circa 1950

£2,150.00

SKU: 2095

Raymond Sheppard (1913 - 1958)

Sheet with two portraits of Christine, one profile one 3/4 view circa 1951

£860.00

SKU: 2091

Raymond Sheppard (1913 - 1958)

Christine Sketching at Kitchen Table, c.1952

£975.00

SKU: 1590

Raymond Sheppard (1913 - 1958)

Christine Seated with teddy, circa 1950

£725.00

SKU: 1591

Raymond Sheppard (1913 - 1958)

A speeding train hurled into another….

£750.00

SKU: 335

Raymond Sheppard (1913 - 1958)

The Artist’s Wife Iris Llistening to the Wireless

£585.00