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Robert Verity Clem Paintings and Drawings1959-1967.
Ewell Sale Stewart Library
Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia
2002
EAD tagging 11/19/2002.
ENG
Robert Verity Clem Paintings and Drawings
Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia
11/2002Cataloging and digitizing made possible by The Getty Grant Program.
Coll. 809
Clem, Robert Verity
Robert Verity Clem paintings and drawings1959-1967
47 items
Ewell Sale Stewart Library, Academy of Natural Sciences
1900 Benjamin Franklin Parkway
Philadelphia, PA 19103-1101
Robert Verity Clem, a native of Chataham, Mass, was a devoted birdwatcher all his life. While Clem never took any formal painting lessons, his work has been compared to that of Andrew Wyeth. His unique achievement is that he portrays birds not as isolated specimens but showing their environments in a manner so convincing as to suggest to us an immediate experience of our own. The collection includes 33 watercolors featuring 47 species of shorebirds from all of North America, 32 of which were published in The Shorebirds of North America, 10 pencil drawings, 2 sketchbooks of preliminary works for shorebirds, and a scrapbook.
Robert Verity Clem, a native of Chataham, Mass, was a devoted birdwatcher all his life. In 1950, at the age of 16, Clem had his first one man show of bird paintings at the Berkshire Museum. He was the youngest person ever to have a show at the local museum, and one critic wrote that Clem "showed a remarkable start in a difficult specialty".
While Clem never took any formal painting lessons, his work has been compared to that of Andrew Wyeth. His unique achievement is that he portrays birds not as isolated specimens but showing their environments in a manner so convincing as to suggest to us an immediate experience of our own. Many shorebird species are so similar that they are difficult to identify, and Clem's watercolors have received much critical acclaim not only because they are beautiful, but also because they accurately show the subtle difference between and among the species depicted.
Clem was asked by his friend, Gardner Stout, to illustrate his proposed book,
The Shorebirds of North America. Clem agreed, and traveled from his home on the Atlantic coast in Massachusetts to shorelines in California, Texas, New Jersey and other locales, preparing preliminary drawings. He later composed these into finished opaque watercolors. "Niney percent of what I do", Clem said, "is observing, looking at birds for countless hours through binoculars or telescope." Upon it's publication in 1967, Clem's watercolors were immediately hailed as masterpieces of natural history art.
The collection includes 33 watercolors featuring 47 species of shorebirds from all of North America, 32 of which were published in
The Shorebirds of North America. Sandpipers, plovers, stilts and oyster catchers are the four families of birds in North America represented. Clem created the watercolors between 1964 and 1967, and the works measure from 41 x 60 cm. to 61 x 79 cm. In addition to the watercolors are 10 pencil drawings, also included in the book, 2 sketchbooks of preliminary works for shorebirds, and a scrapbook of
Shorebirds success kept by Mr. and Mrs. Prentice Stout.
Organized into 3 series: - Paintings
- Pencil drawings
- Sketchbooks
- Scrapbook
Shore birdsSandpipersPloversHimantopusHaematopodidae
Gouaches--20th centuryPencil drawings--20th century
Ornithological illustrations--20th century
Information on reproduction rights and services available in the library or on the web at http://www.ansp.org/library/reproductions.php.
Cite as: Collection 809. Robert Verity Clem Paintings and Drawings. Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia.
2001:07. Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Prentice Stout, 1986-1987.
Finding aid created by Mary Hammer, 2002.
PaintingsPaintings 001-032 published in
The Shorebirds of North America by Gardner D. Stout.
(001)[Eskimo curlew] / Robert Verity Clem, 1966. 1 painting : gouache ; 41 x 60 cm., in frame 61 x 79 cm.
(002)[American oystercatchers, willet] / Robert Verity Clem, 1966. 1 painting : gouache ; 41 x 60 cm., in frame 61 x 79 cm.
(003)[American arocets, wilson's phalarope]/ Robert Verity Clem, 1966. 1 painting : gouache ; 41 x 60 cm., in frame 61 x 79 cm.
(004)[Black-necked stilts] / Robert Verity Clem, 1966. 1 painting : gouache ; 41 x 60 cm., in frame 61 x 79 cm.
(005)[Lesser golden plover] / Robert Verity Clem, 1966. 1 painting : gouache ; 41 x 60 cm., in frame 61 x 79 cm.
(006)[Black-bellied plover] / Robert Verity Clem, 1964. 1 painting : gouache ; 41 x 60 cm., in frame 61 x 79 cm.
(007)[Semipalmated plovers] / Robert Verity Clem, 1964. 1 painting : gouache ; 41 x 60 cm., in frame 61 x 79 cm.
(008)[Snowy plover, wilson's plover] / Robert Verity Clem, 1965. 1 painting : gouache ; 41 x 60 cm., in frame 61 x 79 cm.
(009)[Kildeer] / Robert Verity Clem, 1964. 1 painting : gouache ; 41 x 60 cm., in frame 61 x 79 cm.
(010)[Mountain plover] / Robert Verity Clem, 1965. 1 painting : gouache ; 41 x 60 cm., in frame 61 x 79 cm.
(011)[Marbled godwit, hudsonian godwits, lesser golden plover] / Robert Verity Clem, 1966. 1 painting : gouache ; 41 x 60 cm., in frame 61 x 79 cm.
(012)[Long-billed curlews] / Robert Verity Clem, 1965. 1 painting : gouache ; 41 x 60 cm., in frame 61 x 79 cm.
(013)[Whimbrels] / Robert Verity Clem, 1966. 1 painting : gouache ; 41 x 60 cm., in frame 61 x 79 cm.
(014)[Upland sandpiper] / Robert Verity Clem, 1965. 1 painting : gouache ; 41 x 60 cm., in frame 61 x 79 cm.
(015)[Solitary sandpiper] / Robert Verity Clem, 1964. 1 painting : gouache ; 41 x 60 cm., in frame 61 x 79 cm.
(016)[Willet, greater yellowlegs, lesser yellowlegs] / Robert Verity Clem, 1966. 1 painting : gouache ; 41 x 60 cm., in frame 61 x 79 cm.
(017)[[Black oystercatcher, wandering tattler, black turnstones] / Robert Verity Clem, 1966. 1 painting : gouache ; 41 x 60 cm., in frame 61 x 79 cm.
(018)[Spotted sandpipers] / Robert Verity Clem, 1965. 1 painting : gouache ; 41 x 60 cm., in frame 61 x 79 cm.
(019)[Buff-breasted sandpiper] / Robert Verity Clem, 1965. 1 painting : gouache ; 41 x 60 cm., in frame 61 x 79 cm.
(020)[Semipalmated sandpipers, sanderlings] / Robert Verity Clem, 1966. 1 painting : gouache ; 41 x 60 cm., in frame 61 x 79 cm.
(021)[White-rumped sandpiper, pectoral sandpiper, western sandpipers, least sandpiper] / Robert Verity Clem, 1965. 1 painting : gouache ; 41 x 60 cm., in frame 61 x 79 cm.
(022)[Least sandpiper, sanderlins, semipalmated sandpipers, western sandpiper, white-rumped sandpiper], [ca. 1966]. 1 painting : gouache ; 41 x 60 cm., in frame 61 x 79 cm.
(023)[Dunlins, ruddy turnstone] / Robert Verity Clem, 1964. 1 painting : gouache ; 41 x 60 cm., in frame 61 x 79 cm.
(024)[Purple sandpiper] / Robert Verity Clem, 1965. 1 painting : gouache ; 41 x 60 cm., in frame 61 x 79 cm.
(025)[Dunlins, ruddy turnstone, knot] / Robert Verity Clem, 1966. 1 painting : gouache ; 41 x 60 cm., in frame 61 x 79 cm.
(026)[Long-billed dowitcher, short-billed dowitchers, knot] / Robert Verity Clem, 1966. 1 painting : gouache ; 41 x 60 cm., in frame 61 x 79 cm.
(027)[Woodcock] / Robert Verity Clem, 1963. 1 painting : gouache ; 41 x 60 cm., in frame 61 x 79 cm.
(028)[Common snipe] / Robert Verity Clem, 1963. 1 painting : gouache ; 41 x 60 cm., in frame 61 x 79 cm.
(029)[Stilt sandpipers, baird's sandpiper] / Robert Verity Clem, 1965. 1 painting : gouache ; 41 x 60 cm., in frame 61 x 79 cm.
(030)[Surbirds, wandering tattler] / Robert Verity Clem, 1965. 1 painting : gouache ; 41 x 60 cm., in frame 61 x 79 cm.
(031)[Northern phalaropes] / Robert Verity Clem, 1965. 1 painting : gouache ; 41 x 60 cm., in frame 61 x 79 cm.
(032)[Red phalaropes] / Robert Verity Clem, 1966. 1 painting : gouache ; 41 x 60 cm., in frame 61 x 79 cm.
(053)[Peregrine perched on a rock] / Robert Verity Clem, 1959. 1 painting : gouache ; 54 x 39 cm., in frame 74 x 58 cm.
Pencil drawingsPencil drawings published in
The Shorebirds of North America by Gardner D. Stout.
(1)Drift log, Morris Island, Chatham, August / R.V.C., 1966. 1 drawing : pencil ; 21 x 28 cm. pg. 27.
(2)Yellow legs dozing / R.V.C., [ca. 1966]. 1 drawing : pencil ; 21 x 28 cm. pg. 38.
(3)Plover tracks / R.V.C., [ca. 1966]. 1 drawing : pencil ; 21 x 28 cm.pg. 53.
(4)Turnstones dodging the surf / R.V.C., [ca. 1966]. 1 drawing : pencil ; 21 x 28 cm.pg. 71.
(5)Whimbrel / R.V.C., [ca. 1966]. 1 drawing : pencil ; 21 x 28 cm.pg. 65.
(6)Black-bellied plover / R.V.C., [ca. 1966]. 1 drawing : pencil ; 21 x 28 cm.pg. 98.
(7)Peregrine feeding / R.V.C., [ca. 1966]. 1 drawing : pencil ; 21 x 28 cm."This drawing is intended for use at the end of Chapter 8" -- on item.
pg. 108.
(8)[Shorebird on a log] / R.V.C., [ca. 1966]. 1 drawing : pencil ; 21 x 28 cm.pg. 115.
(9)[Empty beach] / R.V.C., [ca. 1966]. 1 drawing : pencil ; 21 x 28 cm."This drawing is intended for use at the end of Chapter 10" -- on item.
pg. 129.
9a on verso.
(9a)Phalaropes traveling / R.V.C., [ca. 1966]. 1 drawing : pencil ; 21 x 28 cm.pg. 125.
9 on verso.
(10)Stranded horseshoe crab / R.V.C., [ca. 1966]. 1 drawing : pencil ; 21 x 28 cm.pg. 134.
Sketchbooks
(1)[California shorebirds], 1964. 1 sketchbook ; 36 x 28 cm. Five pages of sketches of birds done in California, including Mountain Plover, Black Oystercatcher, Wandering Tattler, and Surfbird.
(2)[Shorebirds], 1964. 1 sketchbook ; 22 x 30 cm. Ten pages of sketches of birds, including Calidris minutilla, Wilson's Phalarope, Piping Plovers, Western Sandpiper, Willete, Solitary Sandpiper, Stilt Sandpiper, Avocets, Buff-breasted sandpipers, Upland Plover, Long-billed Curlew, Whimbrel, and Marbled Godwit.
Seven sketches done in Rockport Texas, one in Chatham, Massachussetts.
ScrapbookA 30-page scrapbook put together by Mr. and Mrs. Prentice Stout, consisting of materials regarding
The Shorebirds of North America: reviews, newspaper clippings, advertisements, and correspondence.