Lot 38016: STUART GENTLING (American, 1942-2006) Parrot on a

STUART GENTLING (American, 1942-2006) Parrot on a Stand Drybrush watercolor on paper 29-3/4 x 22 inches (75.6 x 55.9 cm) window Signed lower right: Stuart Gentling Scott and Stuart Gentling could be called the ultimate Texas painters, especially when it comes to painting the land, flora, and fauna of the state. Born in Minnesota, the twins came to Fort Worth as young boys. After separating to attend Tulane and one year of law school at the University of Texas, Stuart joined Scott at the Pennsylvania Academy of Art. After their studies, the Gentlings came home and began painting the landscapes, people, and still-lifes of Texas. Their travels across the state from the ranches of South and West Texas to the Piney Woods of East Texas to subjects close to home in North Texas have provided them with a wealth of subject matter. Unfortunately, Stuart passed away in 2005, leaving Scott alone to continue their many ongoing projects. The brothers are famous for their varied interests, which include but are far from limited to taxidermy, publishing studies of art and history, and composing classical music, as well as painting. Stuart was even asked to present a paper on some of their theories regarding the Aztec city of Tenochtitlan to scholars at The National Museum of Anthropology in Mexico City. The twins are proof that when a few diverse interests and vast knowledge are combined with their incredible artistic skills, the finished products are masterpieces of true modern Renaissance men. In Parrot on a Birdfeeder and Parrot on a Stand, Stuart Gentling has shown that his interest in ornithology goes far beyond the study and painting of Texas birds. He was the skilled taxidermist of the two twin brothers and was often given dead birds by The Fort Worth Zoo to preserve and paint. These pictures are among the first in a long series of parrot paintings that he began in the mid-1970s. In contrast to the birds found in their book, Of Birds and Texas, the parrots are not depicted in their natural habitat. These two exquisitely rendered artworks are painted in the distinctive, precise manner, heavily influenced by Tonalism and artists like Andrew Wyeth, which characterizes the styles of both brothers. Stuart has placed the parrots in front of a lush background of leaves behind a low wall. The leaves that serve as backdrops dapple shadows across the walls at the bottom of the compositions, creating beautiful abstract patterns. The two paintings make an extremely attractive pair and were originally painted and purchased to hang together.