Lot Essay
Wolf was brought up in a village in the Rhineland Valley and from a very early age enjoyed drawing birds and animals. He came to England in 1848 and worked for a short time at the British Museum drawing specimens for Gray's Genera of Birds which he found uninspiring. Wolf was particularly interested in birds of prey and game birds and made a study of the minute markings of plumage and the formation of feather tracts, and specifically the subtle variations of camouflage seen in light and shade.
Although Wolf supplied about 57 watercolours for John Gould's The Birds of Great Britain among others, he preferred the more imaginative work of painting birds in landscapes rather than illustrating books, Landseer remarked of the high esteem in which Wolf was held in 1849, 'When a good many artists of the present generation are forgotten, Wolf will be remembered'.
Although Wolf supplied about 57 watercolours for John Gould's The Birds of Great Britain among others, he preferred the more imaginative work of painting birds in landscapes rather than illustrating books, Landseer remarked of the high esteem in which Wolf was held in 1849, 'When a good many artists of the present generation are forgotten, Wolf will be remembered'.