RAY CHING

acrylic on

frame: 560 x 660 x 12 mm

Kokako, He’s Here! He’s Here! (36-37) (2014) alkyd acrylic on board, frame: 510 x 660 x 20 mm

Swallow, He’s Here! He’s Here! (40-41) (2014) alkyd acrylic on board, frame: 560 x 660 x 12 mm

Skylark Over Rueben Avenue (50-51) (2014) alkyd acrylic on board, frame: 560 x 660 x 20 mm

Birds of Curious Description (117) (2014) alkyd acrylic on board, frame: 558 x 658 x 20 mm

Whio in a Hurry (134-135) (2014) alkyd acrylic on board, frame: 560 x 658 x 20 mm

Gulls Inland (140-141) (2014) alkyd acrylic on board, frame: 560 x 662 x 12 mm

Are We There Yet? (150-151) (2014) alkyd acrylic on board, frame: 505 x 1140 x 12 mm

Cheet, te-te-te-te-te-te- (152-153) (2014) alkyd acrylic on board, frame: 560 x 933 x 12 mm

Uninvited Arrivals (154-155) (2014) alkyd acrylic on board, frame: 505 x 1142 x 12 mm

Young Eyes (157) (2014) alkyd acrylic on board, frame: 563 x 663 x 20 mm

You Should’ve Thought of That (166-167) (2014) alkyd acrylic on board, frame: 594 x 960 x 20 mm

Saddleback Announcement (175) (2014) alkyd acrylic on board, frame: 563 x 663 x 20 mm

Ko Tenei te Manuwhiri! Nau Mai! (176-177) (2014)

alkyd acrylic on board, frame: 512 x 662 x 20 mm

the Children

Rhymes for

(178-179) (2014) alkyd acrylic on board, frame: 520 x 603 x 20 mm

A Choir of Bellbirds (182-183) (2014) alkyd acrylic on board, frame: 580 x 960 x 12 mm

A Young Wahine Keeps Order (184-185) (2014) alkyd acrylic on board, frame: 610 x 961 x 12 mm

Widely considered one of the foremost wildlife painters of the twentieth century, Ray Ching began an exploration of the classic Aesopian fables, retold and transplanted to the Antipodes in the acclaimed series of forty-seven original oil paintings entitled Aesop’s Kiwi Fables.

In Dawn Chorus he extends this, proposing that (after his death) Aesop, the Fabled Teller of Fables, may have travelled (accompanied by an albatross) to New Zealand, where, upon arrival he was greeted by the all the birds of the land and honoured with a great concert, the Dawn Chorus.

The Dawn Chorus is thus an antipodean fantasy where Ching’s commanding photorealist depictions of birds incorporating text and the spiritual presence of Aesop combine to become startling in achievement, masterful and wondrous.

EXHIBITION PRICELIST

RAY CHING

b.1939,livesUnitedKingdom

Considered by many to be one of the best wildlife painters of the twentieth century, Raymond Harris Ching’s career as an artist started with his first exhibition ‘Thirty Birds’ in Auckland in 1966. Discovered by publisher and ornithologist Sir William Collins who introduced him to British wildlife painter Sir Peter Scott, Ching soon left for the United Kingdom and in one year produced over 200 individual paintings for the Reader’s Digest Book of British Birds, published in 1969. This has gone on to become the world’s most successful and biggest-selling ornithological book and remains in print today.

Following from this success, Ching continued to paint mostly avian subjects and produced meticulous watercolours that combine a scientist’s exacting detail with an artist’s movement, energy and life. Ching paints with layer upon layer of almost transparent paint, moving from watercolours to oils in the early 1980s. Working from life observations as well as stuffed birds (he is believed to have a collection of over 7000) (1); each feather, beak and talon is exquisitely rendered on gessoed masonite or canvas.

Ching’s more recent works take these photorealist depictions of birds and other creatures and place them in a setting that defies the very realism for which he is known. Incorporating text, both printed and handwritten, printed comic strips, floating human figures, these paintings contain a multiplicity of stories that require patience and close attention to decode

He has also revisited Aesop’s fables, creating New Zealand versions of the morality stories. Images of a monkey riding a dolphin (Pelorus Jack & the Monkey) or hedgehogs sharing pizza (The City Hedgehog and the Country Hedgehog) are fabulous in the original sense of the word - ‘fable-like’ - and the combination of these real creatures in unreal settings creates a sense of tension and unease in the works. These are fables for adults, not bedtime stories for children.

Born 1939 in Wellington, Ray Ching has spent much of his life in the United Kingdom where, still working, he is mostly based today. His paintings are held in numerous private and public collections, such as the National Museum of Wildlife Art in the USA, and portraits from his exhibition A True Story are held in the Dunedin Public Art Gallery and The Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa.

1. Geraldine Norman, ‘Art Market / Portraits of a Modern Landseer’, The Independent, Sunday 11 July 1993

Ray Ching: Kokako, He's Here! He's Here! (36-37) (2014)

RAY CHING

b.1939,livesUnitedKingdom

SELECTED SOLO EXHIBITIONS

2015 Dawn Chorus, milford galleries queenstown

2014 Dawn Chorus, Artis Gallery, Auckland

2013 Aesop's Kiwi Fables, Milford Galleries Dunedin

2012 Aesop's Kiwi Fables (Part 2), Artis Gallery, Auckland

2010 Aesop's Kiwi Fables (Part 1), Artis Gallery, Auckland

2008 Autobiography, Artis Gallery, Auckland

2007 Ark, Artis Gallery, Auckland Constellation, The Tryon Gallery, London

2005 The Last Tree Fell, Artis Gallery, Auckland,

2004 Ray Ching: Bird Paintings, Pacific Galleries, LaFayette, California

2002 Ray Ching: Measured Drawings, Tinakori Gallery, Wellington; John Leech Gallery, Auckland

2000 Ray Ching: Paintings, (A True Story), Tinakori Gallery, Wellington; Jonathan Grant Galleries, Auckland

1998 Ray Ching: A True Story, Tryon & Swann Gallery, London

Ray Ching: A True Story, Rye Gallery, England

Ray Ching: Puzzles & Fragments, 10 Paintings, Everard Read Gallery, Johannesburg, South Africa

1997 Beds, 8 Paintings by Ray Ching, Everard Read Gallery, Johannesburg, South Africa

1996 Wildfowl & Gamebirds, Tryon & Swann Gallery, London

Ray Harris Ching, Recent Paintings, Everard Read Gallery, Johannesburg, South Africa

1994 Voice from the Wilderness, paintings and drawings, The Tryon Gallery, London

The SAPPI Commission, paintings and drawings, The Everard Read Gallery, Johannesburg, South Africa

Southern African Bird Portraits, The SAPPI Collection, Central City Gallery, London, England

1993 Recent Paintings & Drawings, The Tryon Gallery, London

1989 Paintings & Drawings, Charlotte H. Gallery, Auckland

Drawings of New Zealand Birds, Charlotte H. Gallery, Auckland

1988 Wild Portraits, Rye Art Gallery, England; The Tryon & Moorland Galleries, London; The Australian Galleries / The Tryon Gallery, Melbourne, Australia

1986 The Gilded Triptych & Recent Wildlife Paintings, The Tryon & Moorland Galleries, London

1982 Ray Ching: Paintings & Drawings, International Art Centre, Auckland

Bird Paintings & Sketches, Tryon & Moorland Galleries, London

1980 Paintings, International Art Centre, Auckland

1977 Ray Ching: Recent Paintings & Drawings, Rye Gallery, England; International Art Centre, Auckland

1976 Drawings, The Falcon Gallery, Auckland

1967 Studies of New Zealand Wildlife, John Leech Gallery, Auckland

1966 Thirty Birds, John Leech Gallery, Auckland

SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS

2012-23 The Earl Street Journal, milford galleries queenstown

2012 Significant Works, Milford Galleries Dunedin

The Royal Queenstown Easter Show, milford galleries queenstown

The Surreal, Milford Galleries Dunedin

2009 On the Nature of Things, Artis Gallery, Auckland

2007 Ark, Artis Gallery, Auckland

Auckland Art Fair

2006 Summer Exhibition, Artis Gallery, Auckland

Paintings, Artis Gallery, Auckland

2004 Birds in Art 2004, Leigh Yawkey Woodson Art Museum, Wisconsin, USA 2005

Wildlife Art for a New Century II, National Museum of Wildlife Art, Jackson, USA

2003 Birds in Art 2003, Leigh Yawkey Woodson Art Museum, Wisconsin, USA

2000 Wildlife Art for a New Century, National Museum of Wildlife, Art Wyoming, USA

1998 Birds in Art Exhibition, Leigh Yawkey Woodson Art Museum, Wisconsin, USA

1997 Master Artist at Birds in Art, Leigh Yawkey Woodson Art Museum, Wisconsin, USA

Wildlife & Conservation, Halcyon Gallery, Birmingham, England

1996 Parrots, Tryon & Swann Gallery, London

Miniatures, Holland & Holland Gallery, London

1995 Animal Paintings, Brighton Art Galleries & Museum, Sussex, UK

Wildlife & Conservation, Halcyon Gallery, Birmingham, England

Natural History Paintings & Sculpture, Everard Read Gallery, Johannesburg, South Africa

Painswick House, Gloucestershire, England

1994 Animal Paintings, Brighton Art Galleries & Museum, Sussex, UK

1992 Twenty Years in Cork Street, The Tryon Gallery, London

Museum Awards, King Gallery, New York, USA

1990 From Dusk to Dawn, The Tryon & Moorland Gallery, London

1987 Wildlife in Art, Leigh Yawkey Woodson Art Museum, Wisconsin, USA

1986 Birds in Art Exhibition, Leigh Yawkey Woodson Art Museum, Wisconsin, USA

Everard Read / Stremmel Gallery, USA

Nature in Art, Society of Wildlife Art for the Nations, England

1985 Birds in Art Exhibition, Leigh Yawkey Woodson Art Museum, Wisconsin, USA

Wildlife Art Society of Australasia, Melbourne, Australia

Wildlife Artists of the World, Everard Read Gallery, Johannesburg, South Africa

Collector’s Covey, Dallas, USA

1984 Bird Artists of the World, Everard Read Gallery / The Tryon Gallery, Johannesburg, South Africa

1983 Birds in Art Exhibition, Leigh Yawkey Woodson Art Museum, Wisconsin, USA

1982 Birds in Art Exhibition, Leigh Yawkey Woodson Art Museum, Wisconsin, USA

1981 Society of Animal Artists’ Exhibition, Academy of Natural Sciences, Philadelphia, USA

Tryon & Moorland Artists’ Major Wildlife Exhibition, Tryon Gallery, London

1980 Birds in Art Exhibition, Leigh Yawkey Woodson Art Museum, Wisconsin, USA

1979 Society of Animal Artist’s Exhibition, Sportsman’s Edge / Explorer’s Club, New York, USA

Birds in Art Exhibition, Leigh Yawkey Woodson Art Museum, Wisconsin, USA

1977 Jubilee Exhibition, The Tryon & Moorland Galleries, London

1976 Animal Art, Pieter Wenning Gallery / Tryon Gallery, South Africa

1975 Endangered Species, The Tryon Gallery, London

1974 Bird Books and Bird Art, The Moorland Gallery, London

1972 Bird Artists of the World, The Tryon Gallery, London

SELECTED COLLECTIONS

Leigh Yawkey Woodson Art Museum, Wisconsin, USA; National Museum of Wildlife Art, USA; Solitaire Lodge, Rotorua, New Zealand; Estate of Daniel M. Galbreath; The Amin Shah Gallery

SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY

1994 Lank, David and Raymond Harris-Ching, Ray Harris-Ching: Voice from the Wilderness, Swan Hill Press, Shrewsbury, England, 1994

1990 Smith, Carol Sinclair. Ray Harris-Ching, Journey of an Artist (Masters of the Wild), Carol Sinclair Smith pub. Briar Patch Press, South Carolina, 1990

1990 Fuller, Errol (ed.). Kiwis, A Monograph of the Apterygidae, SeTo Publishing, Auckland, 1990

1988 Rayfield, Susan. Painting Birds: Techniques of Modern Masters, Watson-Guptill Publications, New York, 1988

1988 Hansard, Peter. Wild Portraits, The Wildlife Art of Ray Harris-Ching, co-pub. SeTo Publishing, Auckland, 1988 co-pub. Airlife Publishing, UK, 1988

1986 Harris-Ching, Raymond. New Zealand Birds, An Artist’s Field-Studies, Reed Methuen, Auckland, 1986

1986 Hammond, Nicholas. Twentieth Century Wildlife Artists, Overlook, New York, 1986

1985 Rayfield, Susan. Wildlife Painting Techniques, Watson-Guptill, New York, 1985

1981 Hansard, Peter. The Art of Raymond Ching, Collins, Auckland,1981

1981 Harris-Ching, Raymond. Studies & Sketches of a Bird Painter, Lansdowne, Melbourne,1981

1978 Snow, David, A.H Chisholm and M.F. Soper. Raymond Ching, The Bird Paintings, watercolours and Pencil Drawings 1969-1975, Collins, London,1978

1969+ Book of British Birds, The Reader’s Digest, London, 1969, 1969, 1970, 1972, 1974 1977, 1980, 1983, 1986, 1988, 1992

SELECTED REVIEWS

2008 McNamara, T J, ‘Spanning the Ages of Creation’, The New Zealand Herald, 25 October 2008

2007 Daly Peoples, John, ‘Ray Ching Flies Into Myths’, National Business Review, 5 April 2007

2005 McNamara, T J, ‘Flight, Fall and Death’, The New Zealand Herald, 30 November 2005

2005 Daly Peoples, John, ‘Flying High with Ray Ching’, National Business Review, 2 December 2005

2005 Du Chateau, Carroll, ‘A Remarkable Encounter’, The New Zealand Herald, 3 December 2005

2004 Rees, Darren, ‘Paintings from a Different World’, Birds Illustrated, Winter 2004

2004 Sinclair Smith, Carol, Migration of a Bird Painter, March/April 2004

2000 McNamara, T J, ‘Art: Glazing in the best Old Master technique’, The New Zealand Herald, 20 November 2000

Ray Ching: The Crowing Cockerel the Fox and the Wallaby (2007)