David Grossmann: Flight Patterns

F L I GH T PAT T E R N S

David Grossmann

The RSPB is a charity that works to conserve birds and other wildlife, in the UK, the Crown Dependencies and the UK Overseas Territories.

The RSPB also works throughout the world in collaboration with BirdLife International and others.

Established in 1889, it is supported by more than a million members and has a mission to create a world richer in nature. We use our expertise in birds and nature to provide evidence-based solutions to the nature and climate emergency, helping people live well in harmony with nature.

We work with our partners to keep common species common, recover threatened species, protect and restore special places and inspire and enable everyone to act for nature.

We are delighted that David Grossmann’s love of nature, expressed through his art and through his association with Jonathan Cooper‘s gallery, a UK leader in wildlife artworks, have generously agreed to support the RSPB through the sale of any paintings exhibited in this show.

Mike Harris Corporate Partnerships Officer, England The Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB)

Front and back cover:

5 . Flight Patterns (detail)

F L I G H T PAT T E R N S David Grossmann

1 June – 2 July, 2022 5% on any sales will be donated to the RSPB (Royal Society for the Protection of Birds)

Jonathan Cooper 20 Park Walk London SW10 0AQ t: +44 (0)20 7351 0410 mail@jonathancooper.co.uk jonathancooper.co.uk

FLIGHT PATTERNS “Hope” is the thing with feathers - That perches in the soul Emily Dickinson

Over the last few years, words like pandemic, unrest, lockdown, and shortage have defined our world. During this time, when it feels as if my life has grown heavy under the weight of it all, I step outside to watch the skies. Invariably, I find birds. Their patterned flight draws my gaze upward and with it, gradually, I feel the heaviness lift. For me, birds are embodiments of hope, just as they have been throughout human history. A dove, in the book of Genesis, brings the sign of life renewed after complete destruction. Cranes, in Japanese culture, are linked to granted wishes.

And hummingbirds, to the early people of the Americas, were figures of resurrection.

But these symbols of hope are also potent signs of humanity’s effects on nature. Studies during the recent lockdown reveal that sparrows had begun to sing more quietly once they no longer competed with the sounds of traffic. Not only are birds’ songs altered because of our noise, but they are progressively fettered by our pollution, thrown off migratory paths by city lights, killed in

1

Evening with Forming Patterns oil on linen panel 34 × 20 ins (86.4 × 50.8 cm) £6,800

collisions with wind turbines and power lines and windows. All of which begs the question: what does it mean to live in a time in history when there are one-third fewer birds now than there were fifty years ago?

I am fortunate to live and work in Colorado, on the western slope of the Rocky Mountains along an extensive avian migratory route. From day to day, one season into the next, I make my way outside and soon my heart lifts at the sight of an arrangement of doves against a winter sky, or robins appearing with the first hints of spring, by ducks in summer drifting lazily down the river, and the murmurations of starlings blurring the golden autumn fields.

And so I find, when that heaviness presses down on my spirit, I step outside to watch the skies. I paint birds as I search for glimpses of transcendence. And always, I look for hope.

David Grossmann, February 2022

2

Night Wings oil on linen panel 50 × 30 ins (127 × 76.2 cm) £12,800

3

Early Winter Swim oil on linen panel 18 × 24 ins (45.7 × 61 cm) £5,000

4

Heron in Sunrise Waters oil on linen panel 34 × 20 ins (86.4 × 50.8 cm) £6,800

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Flight Patterns oil on linen panel 40 × 30 ins (101.6 × 76.2 cm) £11,000

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At the Edge of the Forest oil on linen panel 30 × 50 ins (76.2 × 127 cm)

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Dusk Flight with Moon oil on linen panel 40 × 30 ins (101.6 × 76.2 cm) £11,000

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Strands of Geese Through Misty Sky oil on linen panel 20 × 34 ins (50.8 × 86.4 cm) £6,800

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Into Fading Sky oil on linen panel 18 × 24 ins (45.7 × 61 cm) £5,000

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Dusk Ascension oil on linen panel 24 × 18 ins (61 × 45.7 cm) £5,000

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Early Blossoms oil on linen panel 20 × 34 ins (50.8 × 86.4 cm) £6,800

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Late Summer Sunflowers oil on linen panel 20 × 34 ins (50.8 × 86.4 cm) £6,800

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Autumn Birds and Falling Leaves oil on linen on panel 40 × 30 ins (102.3 × 76.2 cm)

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Morning River Fog oil on linen panel 20 × 34 ins (50.8 × 86.4 cm) £6,800

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Blue Sky Crossing oil on linen panel 24 × 18 ins (61 × 45.7 cm) £5,000

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Taking Flight, Black Birds and Orange Leaves oil on linen panel 30 × 40 ins (76.2 × 101.6 cm) £11,000

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Sunrise Pond oil on linen panel 20 × 34 ins (50.8 × 86.4 cm) £6,800

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Lines and Birds on Green Sky oil on linen panel 34 × 20 ins (86.4 × 50.8 cm) £6,800

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Lines and Birds on Golden Sky oil on linen panel 34 × 20 ins (86.4 × 50.8 cm) £6,800

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Night River Reflections oil on linen panel 30 × 40 ins (76.2 × 101.6 cm) £11,000

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River Under Golden Dusk oil on linen panel 30 × 40 ins (76.2 × 101.6 cm) £11,000

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River Flight in Winter Colours oil on linen panel 30 × 40 ins (76.2 × 101.6 cm) £11,000

These paintings touch my soul, this exhibition I would like to dedicate to my recently departed step father, Kenneth Wren, he was a Christian man, who supported and loved my gallery. Ken was possibly a direct descendant of the great Sir Christopher Wren, a man who knew the power of beauty.

Jonathan Cooper

Jonathan Cooper