Rodger McPhail (1953-). Pike Fishing. Large Original Watercolour. TOP WILDLIFE SPORTING ARTIST.

Original signed watercolour by the man who painted the Famous Grouse Whiskey label!

The painting is 46 x 60 cm. in dimension. . Frame is 84 cm x 71 cm. Very good condition in frame and mount. I have looked at it without glass. There is a light scuff on the blank paper  near the trees, not on any of the painted areas, that does not affect the appearance of the painted work. .The paper and the paint are clean and in remarkable unfaded condition. New glass.

This painting has two stickers on the back appended by Everard Read Gallery of Johannesburg at the time of its original sale 33 years ago in 1986. See all photos above. Has been in one owner's hands since then.

It formed an illustratioin in colour for the book "Open Season: by Rodger McPhail, published in London in 1986 by the Tryon Gallery and Airlife Publishing Ltd.

This is one of the world's top sporting and wildlife artists. Just look at a recent auction result for a watercolour of over R25 000 at Bonhams in London:

https://www.bonhams.com/auctions/11639/lot/56B/

Postnet to Postnet or The Courier Guy is R99 to towns and cities within South Africa or we can use another art courier or other courier. Or you can pick up for free. You are welcome to view in our shop in the greater Cape Town area.

Please note that I cannot send the picture with any glass, in order to protect the valuable painting. Overseas enquries welcome, will be sent without frame or mount for much cheaper shipping costs, more if in frame and mount or just mount.

Rodger McPhail, son of a Scottish father and a Lancastrian mother, has always lived in Lancashire. After graduating from the Liverpool School of Art he travelled to Spain, where he was commissioned to paint a partridge shooting series, and in 1977 he made his first visit to the United States to complete commissions of shooting scenes in South Carolina and Georgia.

McPhail claims he took to painting because he was no good at anything else, but his extraordinary talent was recognised early by Tony Jackson, then editor of the Shooting Times, who introduced him to the Hon. Aylmer Tryon. McPhail regards Dutch artist Rien Poortvliet (19321995) as his greatest mentor. Although he makes frequent use of his camera and other references, McPhail has a photographic memory and is skilled at working quickly and accurately. In his early days McPhail was criticised for being too photographic and recording wingbeats that the human eye could not register, but these voices have faded in the face of the artist's inimitable, distinctive style.

Since his first solo exhibition at the Tryon Gallery in 1977, McPhail has had consistent success, right up to his most recent show in early summer 2017. 

McPhail is a leading British sporting and wildlife artist, at the very forefront of the genre. He is also a sensitive portraitist and is in demand as a cartoonist and illustrator. Many of his paintings have been reproduced as limited edition prints, and he is world renowned for his iconic label image for Famous Grouse Scotch whisky.  ( From the Tryon Gallery, London ).

From Google Books:

Rodger McPhail was born in Lancashire in 1953. He is an internationally-renowned wildlife artist. His love and enthusiasm for the countryside and its birds and animals are evident in his work. Rodger has illustrated over thirty books and he also produces cartoons, caricatures, portraits and stage sets. He lives in the Lune Valley in Lancashire with his wife, Cecilia. They have two sons, Gavin and Alastair.