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Artists Biography

Archibald Thorburn

British 1860 - 1935
Thorburn1
Archibald Thorburn was born at Lasswade near Edinburgh on 31 May 1860. He was the fifth son of the miniaturist to Queen Victoria, Robert Thorburn.

From a very early age Archibald was intrigued by all forms of wildlife and by the time he was six or seven years old was already often to be found drawing and sketching twigs, leaves, and flowers from the garden at Viewfield House. It quickly became apparent that he had been fortunate enough to inherit his father’s artistic skills and by the age of twelve he was producing some beautiful little watercolour drawings and pen and ink studies that already showed exceptional talent and great promise of things to come.

For many of his contemporaries, Thorburn was the greatest natural history painter Britain had produced; “a giant who represented the culmination of a great nineteenth century tradition and showed the way forward to greater naturalism”. For more than fifty years, from his first published work in 1883 to his death in 1935, Thorburn was in constant demand both as a book illustrator and as the painter of larger, private commissions showing birds and mammals in their natural landscapes.

Exhibited at the Royal Academy, Royal Society of British Artists, Fine Art Society and Dudley Gallery.



Works by this artist…

  • Study Of A Mallard
    Study Of A Mallard
    ( ref : 12072 )
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