Lot Essay
This self-portrait by Tunnicliffe is believed to be the only one in existence, and is datable to circa 1920. It has been on loan to a number of exhibitions and in addition it was featured during a 1981 BBC2 documentary about Tunnicliffe, entitled 'True to Nature'.
Tunnicliffe was brought up on a small farm at Sutton Lane Ends, a village in Cheshire. He gained a place at the Royal College of Art via the village school and a scholarship to the Macclesfield School of Art. He first exhibited at the Royal Academy at the age of 28 and was elected a full member in 1944.
The first book Tunnicliffe worked on as an illustrator was Henry Williamson's Tarka the Otter which led to him being in continued demand as an illustrator, a career he pursued alongside his bird painting for the rest of his life.
After leaving the Royal College of Art, Tunnicliffe returned to Macclesfield where he did commercial graphic work for agricultural firms. It was Reginald Wagstaffe, the curator of the Stockport museum, who encouraged his interest in ornithology, leading to his lifelong study of birds and his magnificent series of measured drawings which were exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1974 and sold to the Anglesey museum after his death. Tunnicliffe had moved to Anglesey in 1947 to a small house called Shorelands overlooking the Cefni estuary where he found himself in an ideal environment for his work filling fifty sketchbooks with studies of birds.
By the time of his death in 1979 Tunnicliffe had been elected Vice President of the RSPB, who also honoured him with a gold medal for his services, he had also been awarded an O.B.E.
Tunnicliffe was brought up on a small farm at Sutton Lane Ends, a village in Cheshire. He gained a place at the Royal College of Art via the village school and a scholarship to the Macclesfield School of Art. He first exhibited at the Royal Academy at the age of 28 and was elected a full member in 1944.
The first book Tunnicliffe worked on as an illustrator was Henry Williamson's Tarka the Otter which led to him being in continued demand as an illustrator, a career he pursued alongside his bird painting for the rest of his life.
After leaving the Royal College of Art, Tunnicliffe returned to Macclesfield where he did commercial graphic work for agricultural firms. It was Reginald Wagstaffe, the curator of the Stockport museum, who encouraged his interest in ornithology, leading to his lifelong study of birds and his magnificent series of measured drawings which were exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1974 and sold to the Anglesey museum after his death. Tunnicliffe had moved to Anglesey in 1947 to a small house called Shorelands overlooking the Cefni estuary where he found himself in an ideal environment for his work filling fifty sketchbooks with studies of birds.
By the time of his death in 1979 Tunnicliffe had been elected Vice President of the RSPB, who also honoured him with a gold medal for his services, he had also been awarded an O.B.E.