The James J. White Collection will be auctioned off at Concept Art Gallery on Saturday, February 20th 2010, beginning at 10 AM. One of the artists featured in the collection is Francois Nicolas Martinet. Born in 1773, Martinet was a French engineer and engraver.

Martinet is best known for his engraved plates inspired by natural history, especially ornithology. One of his works, Martin Pecheur, Parrott, The Jay (lot 15), is a hand colored engraving that depicts two birds posed on branches. Martinet engraved similar illustrations of birds for books by some of the most influential ornithologists in 18th-century including John Ray, Mathurin Brisson, and Georges Louis Leclerc, to name a few.

In the 1700s most skilled craftsmen who created bird illustrations for books were not categorized as “fine” artists because, unlike fine artists, they did not produce paintings of birds for their artistic beauty. In fact, ornithological books were produced primarily for the identification and classification of the birds.

Yet François Martinet distinguished himself from other bird engravers because he learned how to bring realism to his bird illustrations, a skill not easily acquired. Earlier engravings often depicted birds disproportionately and in unnatural poses, which made it difficult for anyone, other than an experienced ornithologist, to identify the given species.

Aside from bird engravings, the James J. White Collection also includes an array of art and antiques ranging from Botanical Illustrations and prints by internationally recognized Artists to fine 19th Century American Still Life and Contemporary Indian Art.

For more information on the James J. White Collection and to see the fully illustrated catalog, visit https://www.liveauctioneers.com/catalog/20424.