Louis Agassiz Fuertes (American, 1874-1927). Watercolor on paper painting depicting two Nashville warblers perched atop a flowering branch, 1899. Signed along the lower center; with an inscription along the lower right. Further inscribed along the lower left and dated May 1, 1899. Provenance information inscribed along the verso.

Provenance: Directly from the artist to Prof. Chas Babcock; gift to Prof. Frederick M. Smith; gift to Ann B. Sampson; Private Collection, Minnesota.

Lot Essay:
Louis Agassiz Fuertes was an ornithologist, illustrator, and artist and is considered one of the most prolific American bird artists, second only to John James Audubon. Born and raised in New York, he fostered a fascination with birds from a young age. At the age of 17 he became the youngest member ever named when he was inducted as an Associate Member of the American Ornithologists' Union.

After studing at the Institute of Keller in Zurich for a year he returned to America to study architecture at Cornell University. However, he lacked a passion for the study of mathematics and geometry and was still fascinated by birds. One apocryphal story tells of him climbing out a window during a college lecture to sit in a tree, completey still, to study a strange bird call. Finally, in 1895, he exhibited fifty of his works at the congress of the American Ornitholgists' Union at Washington and received the first of many commisions for illustrating birds before he graduated.

After graduating he studied with Abbott H. Thayer and traveled throughout the United States to study birds. He collaborated with Frank Chapman, the curator of the American Museum of Natural History, on many assignments and even discovered a new species of oriiole with him while in Mexico. His fame led to him returning to Cornell University to lecture on ornithology beginning in 1923. He was killed prematurely by an a train at a crossing near his hometown of Unadilla, New York, when the train was obscured by a load of hay. The paintings in his car extraordinarily survived undamaged.
Sight; height: 14 1/2 in x width: 8 1/4 in. Framed; height: 21 in x width: 13 1/2 in. The painting is in good condition overall with no visible tears, creases, or losses. The paper is toned and browned. There is a visible mat burn from the previous mat. There are pencil inscriptions along the margins; see the listing image. When inspected under UV light, there is a network of white spots throughout the image, possibly from treatment. The painting is framed under glass. Not inspected out of frame. Wear to the frame.
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