"Northern Pintails Rising" by Eugene LaForet, Watercolor, New York City, 1945

This charming watercolor shows a pair of Northern Pintail ducks taking off in flight from the edge of a lake with marsh grasses. The details of the male and female birds are naturalistic and sharp against an impressionistic background. Eugene LaForet was born in France in 1884 and studied art throughout Europe before moving to New York City before Word War II. There, he opened a storefront/studio on Lexington Avenue near 57th Street, where he painted so passersby could see him through the windows. He named his shop "The Studio Store". He remained there until he died in 1955. LaForet specialized in European and American landscapes, villages and farms, mountain scenes, and still life subjects. He also painted on commission, and held individual art classes in his studio, where he often sold his paintings. He was an enthusiastic, welcoming man, and showed great interest in all his visitors; he was especially delighted to paint scenes described to him by his clients. Here, he painted this pair of Northern Pintail ducks for a sporting-art customer, to animate the joy of duck hunting. It is easy to imagine being at the lake's edge amid the marsh grasses and seeing these beautiful ducks fly up.
The frame, mat, and glass are original. The backing paper is loose, as seen in the photograph. The sight measurements of the watercolor are: 7.75"W x 10.5"H. The overall measurements with the frame are listed below.