Archibald Thorburn - Swerving from the Guns, Red Grouse

signed and dated l.l.: Archibald Thorburn/ 1913
watercolour and bodycolour
74 by 130cm.; 29 by 51in.
ESTIMATE 150,000 - 200,000 GBP

'On his annual visits to Scotland, Thorburn would return to certain locations time and time again, filling his sketch books with hints of the birds and the backgrounds that would later re-emerge, redrawn and expertly painted on larger pieces of paper, destined to decorate the drawing rooms of a fortunate few.

Red grouse were especially drawn during his painting stays at Inveran on the Shores of Loch Maree in Ross-shire, as well as at Pitlochry in Perthshire and again at Gaick. Certain landmarks appear quite regularly in the construction of the backgrounds of these fine watercolours..., thus identifying the location at which the particular picture was originally drawn.' (John Southern, Thorburn's Birds and Mammals, 1986, p.78)