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FUERTES, Louis Agassiz (American, 1874-1927). “St. Bernards”. Watercolor and gouache on board. Original watercolor prepared for The Book of Dogs: An Intimate Study of Mankind’s Best Friend. Washington, DC: National Geographic Society, 1919. 16" x 13" board. --------- Fuertes’ intention was plainly laid out in the introduction to this beautifully illustrated work. Writing, "The dog is a species without known beginning, and of all man’s dependent animals the most variable in size, form, coat, and color.…The illustrator’s problem in preparing this series was not the production of a ‘standard of perfection’ of the various “breeds” of dogs. It was to give, as far as possible, the proper appearance of acceptable types that have been dignified by a name, and to show in what way they are entitled to the friendship and care and companionship of man. Let it not be thought that it was an easy task, nor that had time, opportunity, early concentration, and a larger acquaintance with the field been part of the artist’s equipment, the result would not have been far more satisfactory to the reader and to him… If these pictures it has been less his notion to establish types and a pictorial standard than to show the “man on the street” the general appearance and the special reason for being of the seventy- odd “kinds” of dogs that seemed to the editor and the artist best included in such an exposition as this. There are, of course, other recognized varieties of dogs, but those shown are the kinds best known." Fuertes relied on readily available titles such as Leighton’s Book of the Dog and Watson’s Dog Book (first 2 vol. ed.) to Field and Fancy, and to the illustrated supplements to Our Dogs, as well as photographs provided to him from various kennels and helpful men and women known to him. From which he created these charming canine illustrations. ******************************************************************* Louis Agassiz Fuertes was the most widely acclaimed American ornithological artist of his time. Born in Ithaca, New York, Fuertes began drawing birds at an early age, inspired by Audubon’s Birds of America. By the time he was seventeen, his illustrations had qualified him as an associate member of the American Ornithologists’ Union. Fuertes quickly became associated with leading ornithological scientists and artists, and he received professional commissions while still an undergraduate at Cornell. Fuertes went on to produce a vast body of work for an extremely broad range of projects. His paintings and drawings invariably convey the artist’s extremely careful study of his subjects’ form and behavior, and his diligence, precision and skill in draftsmanship produced some of the most animated and engaging natural history illustrations of the twentieth century. He traveled widely to broaden his knowledge of animals and their habitats. In 1899, for example, he accompanied the Harriman Expedition to Alaska, a group that traveled up the coast as far as Plover Bay in Siberia. Sponsored by the railroad an mining magnate Edward Harriman, the elaborately outfitted expedition included well-known scientists such as John Burroughs and John Muir, landscape artists Frederick Dellenbaugh and Robert Swain Gifford, and photographer Edward Curtis. Fuertes was widely acclaimed, his illustrations having been disseminated in a number of publications. Yet his original watercolors, the most compelling testaments to the unparalleled abilities of this great artist, are quite rare.