Arthur Fitzwilliam Tait

Arthur Fitzwilliam Tait arrived in New York from Liverpool in 1850 and quickly found a market for hunting and fishing scenes in the Adirondacks. Currier and Ives published dozens of lithographs after his paintings, which carried his images into American homes on a scale gallery sales never could.

He was self taught, having worked in a Manchester print dealership as a boy, and he built a camp in the Adirondacks where he painted deer, trappers and sportsmen from close observation.

Later he turned increasingly to animal subjects, particularly chickens, grouse and rabbits, painted with a fur and feather accuracy that sold steadily. The compositions repeat, and the reputation has suffered for it, but the field sketches show a painter who knew exactly what he was looking at.