S. A. Kilbourne “Game Fishes of the United States” 4 Framed Chromolithographs

Clockwise from upper left, The Kingfish and The Whiting, The Sprat, The Mackerel Fish, The Largemouth Bass.

Dimensions:
13.75″h x 20″w (sight)
21.25″h x 27.5″w (frames)

Condition:
Good, no issues observed, not examined out of frames

George Brown (1851-1896) and KILBOURNE, Samuel A. (1836-1881). Game Fishes of the United States. New York: Scribner’s, 1879.

When the noted artist Samuel Kilbourne died in May of 1881, he had just completed a series of illustrations for his book, Game Fishes of the United States. This work gave Kilbourne the opportunity to combine his two most notable artistic talents, landscape painting and fish painting, and his masterful combination resulted in a series of spectacular images. Each illustration depicts a fish either in the water eating or fighting a fisherman’s line, or drawn up on a hank by the waterside. The fish are amazingly vivid, their shimmering colors and delicate scales almost tangible to the viewer. Kilbourne conveyed perfectly the drama of the sport, as well as the beauty of the natural surroundings. His landscapes are beautifully detailed with foreground foliage, and delicately rendered backgrounds of trees or sailboats.

Limited numbered edition of 1000 copies. Samuel A. Kilbourne (1836 – 1881), a native of Bridgetown, Maine was an accomplished painter of natural History Subjects, in 1858 he decided to specialize in painting Fish. He is best known for this his final project “Game Fishes of the United States”. The work was originally published in twenty parts . Still today considered the best classical images of American angling art.

Title: Game Fishers Of The United States.

Publisher: New York, Winchester Press, (1972).