Roger Tory Peterson (1908-1996)
Woodcock, Snipe and Sandpipers
stamped and inscribed on back
gouache, 17 by 11 3/4 in.
inscribed "RTP put color on birds for revised EFG 5th Ed." on back
Roger Tory Peterson was born in 1908 in Jamestown, New York. After a childhood spent reading and fascinated with birds, he studied art at the Art Students League and National Academy of Design in New York. Inspired by naturalist bird artists such as John James Audubon, Edward Lear, and Louis Agassiz Fuertes, in 1934 Peterson published his innovative and influential "A Field Guide to the Birds of Eastern and Central North America," which went into multiple editions and is still in print. The Peterson Field Guides imprint remains a popular resource.
Peterson said, "In 1934 there was nothing remotely like the Field Guide in print...My special contribution was the visual element within a carefully chosen context. Other ornithologists, both noted and nameless, had worked out the field marks of most birds. I combined their knowledge with my visual presentation and, at the urging of two friends in particular, carried the idea through. Their encouragement, my native interest in birds, and my professional training as an artist enabled me to create something that appeared new, though it was really a kind of fertile hybrid."
Among his many honors, the artist-naturalist received multiple honorary degrees and the Presidential Medal of Freedom. Today, the Roger Tory Peterson Institute of Natural History continues to educate the public on art and nature in his honor in his hometown of Jamestown.
Provenance: The artist
Virginia Peterson Estate
Private Collection, by descent
Literature: Roger Tory Peterson, "Eastern Field Guide," 5th Edition, Boston, MA, 2002, p. 161, illustrated.