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Study of a Bird

Study of a Bird

(English, 1846–1901)
(English, 1819–1900)
1883
Medium/TechniqueWatercolor over black chalk
DimensionsImage: 17.1 × 15.9 cm (6 3/4 × 6 1/4 in.)
Framed: 37.1 × 32.7 × 1.6 cm (14 5/8 × 12 7/8 × 5/8 in.)
Credit LineGift of Julia A. McCarthy and Susan M. Giroux in honor of the 150th anniversary of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
Accession number2020.232
On View
Not on view
ClassificationsWatercolors
Description
This drawing of a kingfisher is a surprising collaboration by two influential nineteenth-century English artists: children’s book author and illustrator Kate Greenaway and art critic John Ruskin. The artists began corresponding in 1880, and exchanged letters and sketches over the course of two decades. Greenaway and Ruskin met in person for the first time in 1883, the year this drawing is thought to have been made. The drawing bears some resemblance to one of Ruskin’s studies of a kingfisher in the collection of the Ashmolean Museum, Oxford, England.
InscriptionsIn pen and brown ink on seperate sheet, in Ruskin's hand: A beginning by K. G. under tutor J. R. / Brantwood(?), April 1883
Provenance1883, probably given by John Ruskin (b. 1819 – d. 1900) to Maria Price La Touche (b. 1823 – d. 1906), Dublin [see note]; by descent within the La Touche family, probably through Maria’s granddaughter, Feodora Ward La Touche (b. 1888 – d. 1975), St. Jean de Luz, France. Theodore E. Stebbins, Brookline, MA; 2000, given by Theodore E. Stebbins to Julia A. McCarthy, Billerica, MA; 2020, gift of Julia A. McCarthy to the MFA. (Accession Date: June 17, 2020)

NOTE: An inscription on the back of the frame reads: "This sketch was given by Ruskin to Rose La Touche, the present owner's great aunt, with whom he was in love for many years." Rose La Touche (b. 1848 – d. 1875) died five years before Greenaway and Ruskin began corresponding, so this is not possible. Her parents, however, visited Ruskin at Brantwood in July, 1883 and her mother, Maria, stayed with Ruskin for several weeks. Feodora Ward La Touche, Rose’s niece, is known to have inherited portraits of her aunt by Ruskin.