Joseph Wolf

1820-1899

Joseph Wolf was the first bird artist to understand and use the new freedom of style that lithography allowed. Evoking his childhood love of the countryside and wild creatures, he introduced natural settings and a feeling of motion into his paintings. Early training in lithography and art, over his parents' objections, opened the door to Wolf's development into one of the first and finest true bird artists. He breathed life into the stiff "bird on a perch" portrayals so characteristic of bird art of the day.

Wolf liked especially to paint birds of prey and game birds, with their subtle browns and grays. Some of his best work appeared in John Gould's Birds of Great Britain.

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