Study Sheet, recto: Peacocks; verso: Deer and Crouching Woman

Hoytema was trained for a career in finance but, after drawing lessons from his sister and some experience with scientific illustration, he became one of the most beloved artists of his time. He was especially famous for his illustrations of children’s books, and later, for his calendars, which are often brightly-colored, almost hallucinatory designs that were quite radical at the time.  Hoytema’s images of animals, whether for book or calendar, are arguably some of the greatest characterizations in art: with great detail he defined various species and imparted to each animal a particular attitude—here, a dignified and a complacent peacock.