Edmund H. Osthaus (1858-1928) On Point

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By Copley Fine Art Auctions

Feb 17, 2017 - Feb 18, 2017

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• Lot Description

  Edmund H. Osthaus (1858-1928)
  On Point
  signed "Edm. H. Osthaus" lower right
  oil on canvas, 33 1/2 by 23 1/2 in.
   

  Edmund Henry Osthaus was born in Hildesheim, Germany, in 1858, the son of a prosperous farmer who subsequently emigrated to Toledo, Ohio. Osthaus studied at the Royal Academy of the Arts in Dusseldorf from 1874 to 1882 with Andreas Muller, Peter Jansen, E. von Gebhardt, Ernst Deger, and wildlife and landscape painter Christian Kroner. In 1883, after studying painting for six years, Edmund Osthaus became an instructor at the Toledo Academy of Fine Arts. He served as the director from 1886 to 1893, refining his painting technique and pursuing his passions: hunting and fishing.

   

  In 1893 Osthaus dedicated his full attention to painting, shooting, and field trials. He was a charter member of the National Field Trial Association established in Newton, North Carolina, in 1895. 

   

  “Edmund Osthaus followed field trials from the fall prairie chicken trials in Canada to the important quail trials in the South in mid-winter, judging, sketching, and sometimes entering his dogs. He was a handsome, powerfully built man," and his artistic talent combined with his love of dogs enabled him to capture the essence of the focused working dog while depicting them in precise anatomical detail.

   

  This major work is directly related to the world-record-setting Osthaus oil sold by Copley in 2008, also titled Pointer with Quail. Painted two years later, Osthaus poses the same dog, this time in a vertical format. The work perfectly captures a realistic fall landscape with golden grasses and russet leaves. The viewer can almost hear the crunching of the pointer’s paws on the rustling leaves and smell the crisp autumn air. The fit dog is rendered in masterful detail, as its taut body, full of energy, approaches its quarry. The confident artist, with his wealth of knowledge of birds, dogs, and life in the field, offers us, the viewers, one of his masterworks.

  Tillinghast had varied and extensive business concerns including the retail grocery business, owner of a powdered licorice company, vice-president of the Central Savings Bank Company, president of the Royal Brush & Broom Company, traveling book salesman for James Pott & Co. Publishers, and founder of the Toledo Rocker Tip Co.

  By the 1920s he was into mining and land investments. With the Depression and the up and down nature of his businesses, Tillinghast asked his insurance agent, Merritt Mason, for help when he could not keep up with payments. Family lore and a handwritten note on the back of the painting say Mason bought On Point in 1927 or 1928 while he was a district manager for Northwest Mutual Insurance in Northwest Ohio.

   

  According to Don Waters, an Ohio conservationist who advised Mason on the purchase of the painting, “Mr. Osthaus was a friend of mine and hunted pheasants with me in the years 1927-1928. The orange & white setter is a very fine likeness of his ‘Uncle Billy’ which was one of the last orange & white setters which he owned. I kept him for about 6 months in 1927 for the artist. Mr. Osthaus was very partial to the orange & white coloring. Osthaus was a wonderful sportsman having hunted all his life in America. He was a great field trial judge, and ran many of his own dogs in competition.”

  PROVENANCE: Alvin Brooks Tillinghast, Toledo, Ohio
  Merritt Mason, Toledo, Ohio, c. 1927
  Private Collection, acquired from the above

  Condition

  Condition report requests can be made via email or by telephone (info@copleyart.com or 617.536.0030). Any condition statement given is a courtesy to customers, Copley will not be held responsible for any errors or omissions. The absence of a condition statement does not imply that the lot is in perfect condition.

• Shipping Info

  • Shipping info

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