Four Watercolour Studies of Australian Parrots by Philip Rickman

18201: Four Watercolour Studies of Australian Parrots by Philip Rickman
By Rickman, Philip (British, 1891–1982)
Paper: Height 49cm, width 38cm | Frame: Height 60cm, width 49.5cm, depth 3cm

This set of four watercolours by Philip Rickman, signed and dated 1969, portrays King Parrots, lories, Rainbow Lorikeets and Superb Parrots with the ornithological precision for which the artist is renowned. The works belong to a larger group of eleven parrot studies by Rickman, all executed against a pale blue ground and united by their attentive treatment of plumage, posture and individual character. Across the series, the birds appear singly, in pairs and in small flocks, whether perched, feeding or in display.
In the first sheet, two Papuan King Parrots are gathered at a tree hollow. The bird above, predominantly green with a flash of red at the flank, bends towards its companion below, whose outstretched wings disclose brilliant red shoulders, dark iridescent flight feathers, a blue-green breast of shimmering tone and a long tail of green and blue. The moment of display is caught with an assured sense of movement and anatomical structure.
The second sheet presents two red lories on a bare branch, their scarlet plumage accented with touches of yellow and green at the wings and deepening to blue-black at the wing tips and tails. Against the restrained background, the saturation of the red is thrown into vivid relief.
The liveliest of the group is the third composition, in which a small flock of Rainbow Lorikeets crowds a flowering branch. Heads of violet-blue, breasts of orange-red, collars of yellow-green and green wings alternate with pale cream blossoms, producing a densely worked and animated scene.
The fourth sheet shows a pair of Superb Parrots at rest, recognisable by their long tapering tails and largely green plumage. The male bears a golden-yellow face and a band of crimson at the throat, while the female is painted in more subdued green, the two birds composing a quietly balanced group.
Each sheet is signed and dated "Philip Rickman / 1969" in blue ink and housed in a gilt frame matching those of the full eleven-piece series, making this a particularly coherent selection from Rickman's ornithological work.
Philip Rickman (1891–1982) ranks among the leading British bird painters of the twentieth century. Largely self-taught, he exhibited widely and contributed illustrations to numerous natural history publications, earning a reputation for work that joins scientific accuracy to genuine artistic sensitivity, qualities evident throughout the present group.