Saturday 12 September 2009

Wildlife Artists

The Society of Wildlife Artists Annual Exhibition opens at the Mall Galleries in London on 23 September and continues until 4 October. This terrific portrait of a Gentoo Penguin getting stroppy by Andrew Stock PSWLA gives you a taste of what to expect. Paintings by British ornithologist, conservationist and artist Sir Peter Scott will also be on display. Admission is £2.50 or £1.50 for silver surfers (title link).

The Threadneedle Prize Exhibition (CLICK) continues until 19 September, and you still have time to vote for one of the seven works selected by the judges. This year, there are three paintings worth voting for! Wow! Voting closes at 12 noon on 14 September (CLICK).

6 Comments:

At 13/9/09, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Peter Scott's mother, Kathleen Scott, was a sculptor. It is held to be erroneous that she used Peter for the model to commemorate the boys from his school who died in the First World War. However the facial characteristics do appear to support the contrary opinion. See it at the WWT reserve at Slimbridge.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/birdworld/2323785009/in/set-72157602469371928/

She also did a memorial sculpture of her late husband, Robert Falcon Scott "..of the Antarctic".
http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Scott_Statue.jpg

 
At 13/9/09, Blogger Unknown said...

Thank you for the comment and the links to two excellent statues.

In the absence of records, the answer to the question Did Lady Kathleen Scott use Peter as the model for her statue of the boy? is down to logical deduction.

If he were the right age at the time the statue was sculpted, I think it is highly probable that his mother would have used him as the model, firstly because that would be convenient and, more importantly, because it would immortalize her son.

If he were the wrong age at the time of the sculpting - either a babe in arms or a beefy teenager - then this is probably another of those myths that people like to invent about the famous.

If you find out Peter's age at the time of the sculpture, please let me know.

 
At 14/9/09, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Good idea. Peter Scott was born in 1909. No date for the sculpture as yet - but such war memorials were usually in the early 1920's. Theoretically he would have been in the right age range to have been a contemporary model. As she was well regarded for her portrait sculpture then it would probably have been a good likeness of someone. More research is needed into her life and works...

 
At 14/9/09, Blogger Unknown said...

Sounds right: 10 or 11 years old maybe. Isn't this statue outside his old school? Maybe the school has records online.

 
At 4/3/11, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Wikipedia now contains a link to Peter Scott's biography where he states he wasn't the model.
http://www.westdowns.com/scott1.htm

 
At 4/3/11, Blogger Unknown said...

Thank you. That must be considered the definative answer.

 

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