A Fawn

According to Zieseniss (op. cit., pp.26-27), Bayre followed the same process in the creation of all of his animal watercolors. He began the composition by determining the pose of the animal, whom he might have observed firsthand at the Jardin des Plantes in Paris, and drawing it on a piece of tracing paper. He then transferred the outline to a sheet of drawing paper. The black chalk outline of the fawn is evident in this drawing. He then added a complex layering of colors in watercolor and bodycolor, bringing depth and texture to the form. The background landscape could often veer towards abstraction, as in the present example. In addition to the present lot, there are several examples of Bayre signing his drawings twice, the reason for which is not known.