Lot 304: 2 ROBERT VERITY CLEM (1933-2010) LITHOS

Two Robert Verity Clem (1933-2010) Offset Lithographs. Both good quality, printed in the Netherlands. Blue Bill Ducks #113/200 and Pintail Ducks. Both are pencil signed by the artist. Frames and matted under glass, in frames Blue Bill 35"x26"x1" and Pintail 35"x28"x1". Weight combined 19 pds. PROVENANCE: A Private Charleston SC Estate. Robert Verity Clem was considered one of the foremost bird artists in the country. A loyal following awaited his new paintings with anticipation, and his one major published book, The Shorebirds of North America, is considered a classic in the field. Mr. Clem was a self-taught painter, showing artistic talent at an early age growing up in Hamden, Connecticut. He became interested in birds and the natural world through the illustrations of Louis Agassiz Fuertes, and the artist became his "ghost" mentor, Baird said. He learned the principles of landscape painting by observing muralists and background painters at the Peabody Museum of Yale University. By age 11 he was painting birds, and he was recognized for his talent by his mid teens, when he began a correspondence with artist and ornithologist George Miksch Sutton, who had been mentored by Fuertes.In 1967, Mr. Clem produced the paintings for The Shorebirds of North America, written by Peter Matthiasen, which at the time was the definitive text on the subject. In subsequent years, his paintings focused primarily on shorebirds and raptors, both of which were of keen interest to him. His work can be found in many private collections and museums throughout the US. Four of his paintings are held by the Audubon Visual Arts Center.

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