Washington Winter Show 2013

39 This page is sponsored by John and Sara Thorne Fig. 2: John Bucknell Russell (British, 1819–1893), Day’s Catch, 1864. Oil on canvas, 24 x 36 inches. Gift of Dr. and Mrs. Timothy J. Greenan. Fig. 3: English School, mid to late 19th century Fishing Scene. Fore-edge painting, fanned to the right. The Poetical Works of Thomas Campbell, London, Edward Moxon, 1840. Gift of John H. and Martha A. Daniels. bit of ingenuity to make a rod. Early books on the recreation of angling mark the embracing of the activity by those who were able to keep personal libraries. Such collections of books were mainly reserved for scholars and the gentry even well after the invention of the Gutenberg press. Among the first English-language works on fishing was the Compleat Angler , written in 1653 by Izaak Walton and Charles Cotton, offering a discourse on “the observations of the nature and breeding, and seasons, and catching of fish.” Essentially a celebration of angling in prose and poetry, the immensely popular book is still in print today and remains an indispensable primer to many who pursue the sport. With each edition came updated introductions and more illustrations. The 1668 version included ten copperplates of fish. The 1750 edition featured a headpiece of a fishing scene and fifteen woodcuts of specimens. By 1844, the epistle was already a classic when John Absolon (1815–1895), an English artist and illustrator, produced fresh original watercolors, reproduced as engravings for the John Majors’ fourth edition. Absolon’s illustrations were described by Thomas Westwood in his 1883 history of the Compleat Angler , at the time already in its ninety-seventh edition, as: …quaint, unaffected, and picturesque, and [having] the signal of merit of seeming an emanation and efflorescence of the book itself, rather than a set of artistic notions grafted upon it. 1 Not only was the book a classic, but angling too was a revered pastime. Fly fishing has its roots in the rivers and streams of Scotland and Northern England, and its allure as a contemplative diversion typified the qualities of the country gentleman. The landed gentry owned the countryside, managed the land, and partook of its offerings of leisure. The English country house was the nexus of the property and as a home was adorned with furnishings and embellishments of the country life. On the wall, one might have found a painting by John Russell (c. 1819–1893) [Fig. 2]. Little is known of his life and teaching, but the Scottish painter’s works are typical of piscatorial still lifes of the day. By the mid-1800s, depictions of arranged fish, often trout or salmon, on a riverbank were popularized in Great Britain as an appropriate subject for still life painting. While from an artistic perspective these works were produced as an exercise of skill, collectors gravitated toward them as two-dimensional trophies.