This is a very interesting colour etching which was printed using three separate plates to give all the colours. Not many artists work in this way with etching. They were printed in Edinburgh.
Robert Rivers is an American artist and printmaker. He was born at Guntersville, Alabama in 1950. He attended Auburn University where he excelled at sports and thought about becoming an American football coach. During the summer he worked as an animal trainer at an attraction called Jungle Larry’s in Sandusky, Ohio. Rivers enjoyed caring for and training elephants and monkeys — and even performing with them in shows for tourists. His love of animals, especially elephants is evident in this fine print. He has worked since the 1980s as Professor of Art at the University of Central Florida in Orlando.
In 1980 he met with Senior Lecturer George Donald, who was in Florida as an exchange Professor from Edinburgh Art College.
George Donald took a set Rivers etchings with him on his return to Scotland showed them to Scottish printmakers. In 1981 there was an unexpected cancelation of the planned show at the Edinburgh Art College for the Edinburgh International Festival and Rivers works were put on display there as his first solo exhibition. It was praised by The Scotsman as being the most “original and astonishing” art in the 1981 International Festival. This led to Rivers being invited to Scotland as an exchange professor at Edinburgh College of Art, as well as given the opportunity to work at some of the country's print workshops.
Rivers returned to Scotland in 2017 when he was invited to participate in the Royal Scottish Academy’s "Ages of Wonder" exhibition. He taught a master drawing workshop in the RSA gallery which was open to the public.
Rivers also had experience of training both elephants and horses for the circus and was actively riding and training jumpers for several years.
This large limited edition colour shows Rivers love and affinity for animals. It is from an edition of 50 impressions and is entitled "Elephant Purple Garden". The artist has excelled at capturing the hulking size and peaceful demeanour of the animal. It is shown in silhouette. The colours Rivers has used on the elephant reminds me of Andy Warhol's 1983 celebrated screenprint of an African elephant that he made as part of his "Endangered Species" series.
This is an unusual work in that it is an etching that has been printed in colours from three different plates. The work was printed by the Master Printmaker Alfons Bytautas - at the Printmaker's workshop in Edinburgh. The print was exhibited and sold in 1999 and the previous owner has been very fabulous in gathering lots of cuttings about the artwork and the artist - and these are all quite firmly attached to the backing board of the print frame. It is not so often that you find such a thoroughly documented print. I have photographed all the documentation about the print added to frame.
It is signed and edition numbered along the lower margin: it is 22/50
Rivers has exhibited widely in the United States and the United Kingdom, and his works are housed in notable collections such as the Corcoran Gallery in Washington, D.C.; the Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art in Edinburgh; and Montgomery Museum of Fine Arts in Alabama. In 2021, he was the winner of the Florida Prize in Contemporary Art at the Orlando Museum of Art. Other screenprints of elephants made at Peacock Prints are also in the collection of Aberdeen Art Gallery.
CONDITION: The print is sold framed. It does not have a window mount but is presented in a floating mount. It is in good condition - it is printed on top quality paper. It was rather difficult to photograph - any white flashes on the print are only reflections from the glass.
The print is nicely framed with a lime-washed wooden frame and ready to be hung on your wall. Dimensions: 62 x 82 cm. Image size: 45.5 x 65.5 cm.
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