Author: Eldridge Hardie
Publisher: STACKPOLE BOOKS, Aug 2002
Binding: Hardcover
ISBN: 0-8117-1429-2
Synopsis
For the first time a book is wholly devoted to Eldridge Hardies classic paintings & sketches with an intro written by George Reiger & a foreword by Nick Lyons, two people who are able to get to the essence of Hardie's paintings & the man himself. Includes 100+ paintings of upland game, gun-dogs & fresh & salt water scenes. Breathtaking, innocent, reverant. 120 color photos, 22 B&W photos; 12x10 inches, 144 pgs.
More Information
For the first time a book is wholly devoted to Eldridge Hardies classic paintings and sketches. The Paintings of Eldridge Hardie includes an introduction written by George Reiger and a foreword by Nick Lyons, two people who are able to get to the essence of Hardie's paintings and the man himself. The book includes over 100 paintings of upland game, gun-dogs and fresh and saltwater fishing scenes done in oil and watercolor, each on a full page. Eleven of those are with the preliminary sketches, paintings, and notes that led to the completed painting to give you "a look under the hood," as Hardie puts it.
The special limited edition is signed and numbered by Hardie in an edition not to exceed 200 copies, plus author copies. The specifications of the limited edition are as follows:
Book: Brillianta cloth sides, Skivertex spine, blind emboss front and foil stamped spine, Kaiser endpapers, ribbon marker, and Smythe sewn binding.
Eldridge Hardies artwork has graced the pages of sporting literature in books and magazines, including Pick of the Litter by Bill Tarrant and Grays Sporting Journal. Hardies artwork has also appeared in The Field Trial Review, Fly Fishing in Saltwaters, Double Gun Journal and other magazines.
Eldridge Hardies artwork has been displayed at an exhibit in the National Bird Dog Museum of Grand Junction, Tennessee and he has appeared as a guest artist at both the National Museum of Wildlife Art in Jackson, Wyoming as well as the American Museum of Fly Fishing in Manchester, Vermont. Eldridge Hardie was the first to be honored as "Artist of the Year" by Trout Unlimited.
PREFACE BY ELDRIDGE HARDIE
I was born to paint, hunt, and fish. Everyone comes to his life's work in a different way and my route certainly was a fairly unlikely one. As on more than one occasion, this was brought home to me powerfully a few years ago in August. I was walking up red grouse on a heather-covered hill in the Northwest Highlands of Scotland with some other American hunters and the estates gamekeeper. It was my first time. I looked over the incredible landscape and laughed with pleasure and amazement at where I was.
I grew up in country far removed from this scene, in west Texas, where marginal trout fishing in the mountains of southern New Mexico and dove shooting provided most of our sport. As a boy I made pictures of my part of the world and of the other parts I only saw on magazine pages and in my mind's eye. Could I have ever imagined I'd catch a twenty-pound searun brown trout on a fly from the Tierra del Fuego namesake river of my Rio Grande at El Paso, or take marvelous Atlantic salmon from historic pools on the famous Restigouche? Could I have seen myself setting up my French easel on a midstream gravel bar of the Miramichi's upper reaches to record incredible late September colors reflecting in the pool where the evening before I'd taken a salmon on a dry fly? Would I have pictured myself dismounting a Tennessee Walking Horse to approach a pair of pointing dogs locked up on wild Georgia quail, or gunning the oldest duck club in the country along the South Carolina coast?
Fortunately, I had good influences early on, parents who liked pictures, and a father who was just enough of a sportsman to influence my path. My uncle, Eldridge King, a professional illustrator in New York and El Paso's Tom Lea, a well-known painter and author and family friend, were my real-life career role models, and at the School of Fine Art at Washington University in Saint Louis I got a good art education.
The themes of my work come from personal experiences. The subject of my art is the look, not a story, so I am reluctant to say very much about a particular picture. I think words interfere with the viewers personal response to what I have worked so hard to elicit in a visual way. If Ive done my best as a painter, nothing else should have to be added. In this book I want to convey the look and feel of the life of sport through my paintings and drawings along with written records, mostly from my hunting and fishing logs and workbooks, all of this spanning five decades of my passion for outdoor sport. The words I have chosen to accompany the art in this book are not about particular paintings but rather about the sort of experiences that I came to express in my art or that in some cases could not be shown visually. My intention is that the accompanying text compliments the pictures by striking a different chord.
The main part of the book may be opened anywhere. I have not given it any order other than to consider variety and how pictures look together on opposing pages. Painting styles and approaches from different decades are represented here. I have tried to explore and grow over the years, but I do not believe that has diminished my earlier work.
There is a separate section connecting some of the preliminary planning materials with the finished paintings for those who find it interesting to look under the hood. Many of those who have visited my studio have found my workbooks interesting in their own right and have encouraged me to include them. Ive limited these examples to just enough to give an idea of how I work, hoping that I have not contradicted what I have previously said about a painting standing alone without need of words.
--Eldridge Hardie
FOREWARD BY NICK LYONS:
The sporting experience is composed of many discrete moments that rise out of the continuum of the chase: a setter on point, the flush of autumn grouse, Canada geese settling down on a pond or marsh, the momentous leap of a tarpon, a salmon at the net, and so many others. And that experience is enriched by the things and creatures that animate and particularize itits dogs, its rods and reels and clothing and guns, the birds and fish the sportsman pursues, the landscape in which the whole happy drama takes place.
It is altogether possible for the writer or painter to sentimentalize such lovely sport, to imbue its moments and participants with exaggerated feeling; and that quality is the greatest threat to the art of sport, the thin line all sporting artists must walk: they want to capture the feelings that endear sport to the hunter and fisherman, to evoke the emotions that bring us back to days afield and on the water, to make real what may only exist in memory or perhaps photograph. But if the work is to rise beyond being a kind of easy shill for sport, an aggrandizing of the fame, it must have some or all of those qualities that are found in all of the best art. Winslow Homer, an artist of the first rank, treated subjects of interest to sportsmen frequently, capturing an Adirondack guide, the sweep of a fly line, the leap of a brook trout, the textured world of woods and waters in his memorable watercolors. There are many imitators of his evanescent watercolors in the ample pantheon of twentieth-century painters of the sporting experience, and there are a small handful of painters who have gone their own sweet way, developing that distinctive thing called a style of their own, as unique as a fingerprint, and a way of depicting the hunting and fishing moments that we recognize immediately as theirs alone, each adding to the world of sport depicted in watercolor on paper or oil on canvas. They each help us see and feel and understand and remember in a somewhat different way.
Eldridge Hardie has patiently created a place for himself among the best, for work that is notable for its care, thoughtfullness, and intimacy. There is in every work of his that Ive seen, real or reproduced, a respect for the scene or objects depicted. Without sentimentality, they are deeply imbued with sentimenta true feeling for a brace or pheasants, mallard decoys, an afternoon drift, a day on tropical flats, a favorite Lab. Reverence, in its deepest and most honest form, is the word that comes first to mind when I look at Eldridges workreverence for these special moments and scenes and the blessed thingness of sportbut reverence also for the painting itself, its needs as important as those of what he is depicting. He loves to hunt and fly fish, and he loves to create an enduring glimpse into the sporting life in which the viewer can live and share.
One of the most interesting aspects of The Paintings of Eldridge Hardie: Art of a Life in Sport is the ample representation of how the artist worksindoors and plein-air, yes, but more specifically through a sophisticated set of plans and sketches (rough and more studied), with notations on color, structural considerations, and specific details. For a rare look into his creative process, look at the fine painting On Santee Marsh and the background notes and preliminary sketches. Note how the basic values of the painting are already evident in the sketches and how (in almost abstract fashion) he explores the tonal values, the structure and frame, and even such specific details as to which angle the man will be standing; first we cannot see the mans face, then there is a comment to himself about the importance of faces, and then there is a quicker sketch of the face of the standing man, turned more towards the viewer. Some features will change dramatically, others remain essentially the same; some details are used, others dropped. He considers sunlight and shadow, precise colors; he wants the entire painting to work but he also wants to get the tools and accoutrements of the sport exactly right.
In the end, it is the great pleasure an Eldridge Hardie painting offers to the serious sportsman, its embodiment of the inner life of sport, that makes his work so memorableand this book such a treasure.
--Nick Lyons
New York City
October 2001
The Paintings of Eldridge Hardie
For the first time a book is wholly devoted to Eldridge Hardies classic paintings and sketches.
Eldridge Hardies artwork has graced the pages of sporting literature in books and magazines, including Pick of the Litter by Bill Tarrant and Grays Sporting Journal. Hardies artwork has also appeared in The Field Trial Review, Fly Fishing in Saltwaters, Double Gun Journal and other magazines.
Eldridge Hardies artwork has been displayed at an exhibit in the National Bird Dog Museum of Grand Junction, Tennessee and he has appeared as a guest artist at both the National Museum of Wildlife Art in Jackson, Wyoming as well as the American Museum of Fly Fishing in Manchester, Vermont. Eldridge Hardie was the first to be honored as "Artist of the Year" by Trout Unlimited.
The Paintings of Eldridge Hardie includes an introduction written by George Reiger and a foreword by Nick Lyons, two people who are able to get to the essence of Hardie's paintings and the man himself. The book includes over 100 paintings of upland game, gun-dogs and fresh and saltwater fishing scenes done in oil and watercolor, each on a full page. Eleven of those are with the preliminary sketches, paintings, and notes that led to the completed painting to give you "a look under the hood," as Hardie puts it.
The special limited edition is signed and numbered by Hardie in an edition not to exceed 200 copies, plus author copies. The specifications of the limited edition are as follows:
Book: Brillianta cloth sides, Skivertex spine, blind emboss front and foil stamped spine, Kaiser endpapers, ribbon marker, and Smythe sewn binding.
Slipcase: Brillianta cloth, blind emboss & tipped on print, and foil stamped.
Trim Size 12" x 10" (Landscape)
144 pages printed on acid free stock
120 color photos
22 black and white drawings
Available August
Special limited edition signed and numbered with slipcase: $200.00
Regular, hardcover trade edition: $60.00
LIST OF PAINTINGS AND THE MEDIUM
On the Edge of the Dayoil
Holding on the Fencelineoil
Bright WaterAtlantic Salmon Fishing watercolor
Autumn Grouseoil
Rainbow Troutwatercolor
Poling the Flatswatercolor
Settling In--Canada Geesewatercolor
Fish Creekoil
Jimwatercolor
Marsh Dogoil
Buffalo Ford--Cutthroat Trout & Quill Gordonswatercolor
Sunup Flight--Wood Duckswatercolor
Dry Fly Timewatercolor
Ready to Huntoil
Open Shot--Woodcockwatercolor
Morning's First Pointoil
Sunrise Salmonwatercolor
Shelter Belt Flushoil
Called in Closewatercolor
Spring Creek, 1978 Trout Unlimited Art Print of the Yearwatercolor
Marsh Trio--Snipewatercolor
The Best of Times--Flats Fishingwatercolor
High Country Fly Fishingoil
Hankoil
Timberland Gobblerwatercolor
Western Floatwatercolor
Feeding Flight--Doveswatercolor
Afternoon on the Bighornwatercolor
In Rough Country, 2002 Texas Quail Stamp Printoil
Fly Fisher's Afternoonoil
Quail Dogswatercolor
Zink Cabinoil
Curtain Call--White Lakeoil
Permit Triowatercolor
Afternoon Hatchwatercolor
Broken Covey--Mearns' Quailoil
Prairie Marshoil
Striper Onwatercolor
Bobwhite Quail Pairwatercolor
Beaver Pond Brook Troutwatercolor
Sherman Lake--Mile High Duck Clubwatercolor
Double Flush--Pheasantsoil
Gambel's Quailwatercolor
English Pointers watercolor
On Scenic Mesa--Chukar Huntingoil
Afternoon Driftwatercolor
Dove Fieldwatercolor
On the Flatswatercolor
Two in the Handoil
On Alert--Pheasantoil
Franktown Barnswatercolor
Peteoil
Antique Decoyoil
Driven Grouse--Scotlandwatercolor
A Pheasant in a Plum Thicketwatercolor
Miramichi Fishing Canoeoil
Cutthroat Trout & Salmon Flieswatercolor
Chance for a Double--Ruffed Grousewatercolor
Winging In--Mallardswatercolor
Bone & Featherswatercolor
Low Water--The Roaring Forkwatercolor
Woodlot Ruffswatercolor
Desert Flush--Scaled Quailwatercolor
In the Head of the Pooloil
English Pointeroil
Barracudaswatercolor
In the Canyon--South Platte Riverwatercolor
Bottomland Covey--Bobwhite Quailwatercolor
Mixed Companywatercolor
Salt Castingwatercolor
The Duck Pond--Cattle Creekwatercolor
River Rhythms, 1994 Atlantic Salmon Federation Art Print of the Yearwatercolor
In the Bend--Mallardswatercolor
End of the Season--Brown Troutwatercolor
Sundown Doveswatercolor
Evening Hatchwatercolor
Season's Endoil
Autumn Triooil
Spring Creek--Mallardswatercolor
Sea Trout--Rio Grande, Tierro Del Fuegowatercolor
Water Walker--Tarponwatercolor
Mallard Decoywatercolor
Labrador Retrieveroil
Morning at Kinlochwatercolor
Rising--Brown Troutoil
Widgeon at Green Treewatercolor
Highland Grouseoil
Changing Patternswatercolor
Autumn Coveywatercolor
Goose Hunterwatercolor
January Mallardswatercolor
Downstream and Acrosswatercolor
Fishing Boats--Bahamaswatercolor
Waterhole Doveswatercolor
Heading Backoil
Fishing Canoewatercolor
Thunder & Lightning--Steelheadwatercolor
Mixed Flock--Pintails & Greenwinged Tealwatercolor
Early Riserswatercolor
Salmon Watersoil
Last Coveyoil
Going Out for Salmonoil
Saltwater Kingwatercolor
On Santee Marshoil
Coming to Net--Atlantic Salmonoil
Blue-winged Triooil
Snake River Floatoil
Pasture Explosionoil
Winter Huntwatercolor
Mercury Island--Miramichi Riverwatercolor
Early Limitoil
Prime Timewatercolor
Sundown Pointoil
Wyoming Septemberoil
Miramichi Canoeswatercolor
Scaled Quail Cockpencil
English Setter Headpencil
pencil
Undertakerpencil
pencil
Dovespencil
English Pointerpencil
Canada Geesepencil
Chukar?pencil
Bogdan and Salmon Fliespencil
pencil
pencil
English Setter pencil
Bobwhite Cockpencil
pencil
Side-by-side Shotgunpencil
Dog on Pointpencil
Heidipencil
Scaled Quailpencil
Pointerpencil
pencil
pencil
Apple Orchard Grousepencil
Saltwater Heritagewatercolor
Salt Fishing Triowatercolor
Callie--Yellow Labradorwatercolor
Snook and Tacklewatercolor
English Pointerwatercolor
Classicswatercolor
English Pointeroil
Silver Kings--Tarponwatercolor
Last Half Houroil