Archibald Thorburn
Encyclopedia
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
artist and bird illustrator
Illustrator
An Illustrator is a narrative artist who specializes in enhancing writing by providing a visual representation that corresponds to the content of the associated text...
, painting mostly in watercolour. He regularly visited Scotland to sketch birds in the wild, his favourite haunt being the Forest of Gaick near Kingussie
Kingussie
Kingussie is a small town in the Highland region of Scotland. It is one settlement in the Highland Council ward of Badenoch and Strathspey, and is the capital of the district of Badenoch. It lies beside the A9 road, although the old route of the A9 serves as the town's main street...
in Invernesshire. His widely reproduced images of British wildlife with their evocative and dramatic backgrounds, are enjoyed as much today as they were by sportsmen and birdlovers of a century ago.
Life and work
Archibald was born at Viewfield House, LasswadeLasswade
Lasswade is a civil parish and village in Midlothian, Scotland, on the River North Esk, nine miles south of Edinburgh city centre, between Dalkeith and Loanhead...
, Midlothian
Midlothian
Midlothian is one of the 32 council areas of Scotland, and a lieutenancy area. It borders the Scottish Borders, East Lothian and the City of Edinburgh council areas....
, the fifth son of Robert Thorburn (1818–1885), portrait miniaturist to Queen Victoria. His first education was at Dalkeith
Dalkeith
Dalkeith is a town in Midlothian, Scotland, lying on the River North Esk. It was granted a burgh of barony in 1401 and a burgh of regality in 1540...
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
Joseph Wolf
Joseph Wolf was a German artist who specialized in natural history illustration. He moved to the British Museum in 1848 and became the choice of illustrator for numerous explorers and collectors. He depicted animals accurately in life-like postures and has been considered one of the great pioneers...
. 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
Donald Watson
Donald Watson was founder of the Vegan Society and inventor of the word vegan.Watson was born in Mexborough, Yorkshire, into a non-vegetarian family. His journey to veganism began when he was very young, at the farm of his Uncle George...
when he came to visit him in Dumfries and Galloway
Dumfries and Galloway
Dumfries and Galloway is one of 32 unitary council areas of Scotland. It was one of the nine administrative 'regions' of mainland Scotland created in 1975 by the Local Government etc. Act 1973...
. Thorburn was friends of other eminent bird illustrators includingGeorge Edward Lodge
George Edward Lodge
George Edward Lodge FZS, was a British illustrator of birds and an authority on falconry.-Early life:...
and John Guille Millais
John Guille Millais
John Guille Millais , known as "Johnny" Millais, was an English artist, naturalist, gardener and travel writer who specialised in wildlife and flower portraiture. He travelled extensively around the world in the late Victorian period detailing wildlife often for the first time...
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
Royal Academy
The Royal Academy of Arts is an art institution based in Burlington House on Piccadilly, London. The Royal Academy of Arts has a unique position in being an independent, privately funded institution led by eminent artists and architects whose purpose is to promote the creation, enjoyment and...
and he designed their first Christmas card for the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds
Royal Society for the Protection of Birds
Bird Notes and News was first published in April 1903.The title changed to 'Bird Notes' in 1947. In the 1950s, there were four copies per year . Each volume covered two years, spread over three calendar years...
in 1899, a practice that he continued until 1935. He was Vice-President of the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds. In the 1890s Thorburn became disheartened by the British Institution
British Institution
The British Institution was a private 19th-century society in London formed to exhibit the works of living and dead artists; it was also known as the Pall Mall Picture Galleries or the British Gallery...
and had his work shown at A. Baird Carter of 70 Jermyn Street
Jermyn Street
Jermyn Street is a street in the City of Westminster, central London, to the south, parallel and adjacent to Piccadilly.It is well known as a street where the shops are almost exclusively aimed at the Gentleman's market and is famous for its resident shirtmakers Jermyn Street is a street in the...
.
On his marriage to Constance Mudie, Thorburn moved to High Leybourne in Hascombe
Hascombe
Hascombe is a village in Surrey, England. It contains a cluster of cottages and country estates, St Peter's church, the village green and The White Horse pub, all nestling between wooded hillsides in Surrey, England....
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
Busbridge
Busbridge is a village and civil parish in the borough of Waverley in Surrey. It has a population of 758. It forms part of the Waverley ward of Bramley, Busbridge and Hascombe....
, Godalming
Godalming
Godalming is a town and civil parish in the Waverley district of the county of Surrey, England, south of Guildford. It is built on the banks of the River Wey and is a prosperous part of the London commuter belt. Godalming shares a three-way twinning arrangement with the towns of Joigny in France...
.
Books illustrated
- 1882 Sketches of Bird Life - J E Harting
- 1883-88 Familiar Wild Birds - W.F. Swaysland (a Sussex naturalist and taxidermist), 144 plates, 4 volumes
- 1885-97 Coloured Figures of the Birds of the British Isles - Lord Lilford, 268 watercolours, 7 volumes
- 1915-16 British Birds - 4 volumes
- 1920 British Mammals
- 1920-25 The Birds of the British Isles and their eggs - Thomas CowardThomas CowardThomas Alfred Coward, MSc, FZS, FRES, MBOU , was an English ornithologist and an amateur astronomer. He wrote extensively on natural history, local history and Cheshire.-Life:...
- 1937 Observer Book of British Birds
- 1997 The Complete Illustrated Thorburn's Birds - Wordsworth Editions Ltd., ISBN 978-1853264924
- Thorburn's mammals - text by Gordon Corbet, Wordsworth Editions Ltd., ISBN 1853264938
See also
- List of wildlife artists
- Eliza TurckEliza TurckEliza Turck , was an English portrait , genre, bird and landscape painter, illustrator and writer.-Life and work:...
(1832-1891), who also produced many illustrations for the 1883 edition of "Familiar Wild Birds".