Rose Corcoran PANTHERA
Rose Corcoran PANTHERA
All items are subject to prior sale.
The measurements given throughout this publication are approximate framed sizes and are primarily to provide a sense of each drawing’s scale. They are not intended for reference in issues of authentication etc.
All measurements are listed as height x width in inches and centimetres.
ISBN 978-1-901403-31-2
Foreword
‘AWE’ – a feeling of reverential respect mixed with fear or wonder
A sense of awe is a feeling I have had towards big cats my entire artistic career. In their presence I feel acutely my place in nature, I feel an element of fear at their power and strength, I feel wonder at their beauty, their size and their predominance in the order of things. I have respect for their agility, their grace and their killer instinct in juxtaposition with their gentleness.
I have been studying big cats both in the wild and in captivity for the past 25 years across India, Africa and Central America and I am endlessly fascinated and inspired by them. They are the stuff of dreams, fairy tales and nightmares all rolled into one, inspiring genus, the Panthera genus.
I recently returned to India in search of my favourite of all the big cats – the tiger – and spent time with a tigress called Riddhi and her three cubs. She is the third generation of tigers I have studied in Ranthambhor: a place that I have returned to repeatedly over the years. It is precious experiences like this that fuel my work and will stay forever etched in my mind. I feel eternally grateful to be able to spend time with these beautiful creatures and I hope this ‘Panthera’ collection inspires a sense of awe in you the viewer, perhaps enough to help fight for their survival.
ROSE CORCORAN
November 2024
Rose Corcoran, at the launch of her recent book ‘Alphabet of Animals’ and the accompanying exhibition of her original drawings at Sladmore Gallery. The collection of drawings in the book and exhibition celebrated an extraordinary range of wildlife, with species that are endangered, vulnerable and surviving.
This large charcoal and pastel drawing measuring over 1.7 m high, is shown here in progress in Rose’s studio. The drawing was the cover illustration to her book ‘Alphabet of Animals’ published in 2021.
1. Cheetah Walking
List of Exhibits
2. Cheetah Lying Down
3. Lioness Walking
4. Panther Prowling
5. Leopard Pacing
6. Tiger Striding
7. Tiger Turning
8. Leopard, in profile
9. Ocelot, stalking
10. Puma, watching
11. Cheetah, in profile
12. Tiger, looking up
13. Lioness, close-up
14. Lioness, in profile
15. Snow Leopard, in profile
16. Snow Leopard, watching
17. Tiger, snarling
18. Night Tiger
19. Tiger – Looking for Shadows
20. Tiger – Out of the Dark
21. Tiger – In My Dreams
22. Lioness on the Move
23. Tiger ‘Machali’
24. Tiger ‘Nick’
25. Sumatran Tiger, lying down
26. Two Siberian Tigers
27. Persian Leopard
28. Leopard, Paw Up
29. Leopard Walking Towards Me
30. Leopard Striding
31. Leopard Resting
32. Young Tiger
33. Male Sumatran Tiger and Cub Sleeping
1. Cheetah Walking
Conte and charcoal drawing on paper
23.5 x 30 inches (60 x 77 cm)
2. Cheetah Lying Down
Conte and charcoal drawing on paper 25 x 35 inches (64 x 89 cm)
3. Lioness Walking
Charcoal drawing on paper 69 x 44 inches (176 x 111 cm)
4. Panther Prowling
Charcoal drawing on paper
61.5 x 44 inches (156 x 111 cm)
5. Leopard Pacing
Charcoal drawing on paper 65 x 44 inches (166 x 111 cm)
6. Tiger Striding
Charcoal drawing on paper
70.5 x 45 inches (179 x 111 cm)
Rose Corcoran – Panthera
7. Tiger Turning
Charcoal drawing on paper 61 x 81 inches (155 x 206 cm)
Rose Corcoran
8. Leopard, in profile
Charcoal drawing on paper
22.5 x 28 inches (57 x 72 cm)
Rose Corcoran – Panthera
9. Ocelot, stalking
Charcoal drawing on paper
19.5 x 30 inches (50 x 77 cm)
10. Puma, watching
Charcoal drawing on paper
19.5 x 31 inches (50 x 80 cm)
drawing on paper
21.5 x 32.5 inches (55 x 83 cm)
11. Cheetah, in profile
Charcoal
12.
22 x 26 inches (56 x 71 cm)
Tiger, looking up
Charcoal drawing on paper
13. Lioness, close-up
Charcoal drawing on paper 21 x 25 inches (53 x 63 cm)
Rose Corcoran
Panthera
14. Lioness, in profile
Charcoal drawing on paper
28.5 x 27 inches (73 x 69 cm)
Rose Corcoran – Panthera
15. Snow Leopard, in profile
Charcoal drawing on paper 22 x 29 inches (56 x 74 cm)
16. Snow Leopard, watching
Charcoal drawing on paper
23 x 28.5 inches (59 x 73 cm)
Rose Corcoran – Panthera
17. Tiger, snarling
Pastel, charcoal and acrylics on wood 21 x 27 inches (53 x 68 cm)
18. Night Tiger
Charcoal drawing on paper 65 x 46 inches (166 x 117 cm)
19. Tiger – Looking for Shadows
Charcoal drawing on paper 21.5 x 32 inches (55 x 81 cm)
20. Tiger – Out of the Dark
Charcoal drawing on paper
22.5 x 33 inches (57 x 84 cm)
21.
Tiger – In My Dreams
Conte and charcoal drawing on paper 25 x 32.5 inches (64 x 83 cm)
22.
Rose Corcoran
Panthera
Lioness on the Move
Conte and charcoal drawing on paper
43 x 78 inches (109 x 198 cm)
Rose Corcoran
Panthera
Rose Corcoran
23. Tiger ‘Machali’
Conte and charcoal drawing on paper
27 x 24.5 inches (68 x 62 cm)
24. Tiger ‘Nick’
Conte and charcoal drawing on paper 36 x 28 inches (91 x 71 cm)
25. Sumatran Tiger, lying down
Conte and charcoal drawing on paper
27.5 x 35.5 inches (70 x 90 cm)
26. Two Siberian Tigers
Charcoal drawing on paper 55 x 56 inches (140 x 143 cm)
27. Persian Leopard
Conte and charcoal drawing on paper
23 x 30 inches (58 x 77cm)
Rose Corcoran – Panthera
28. Leopard, Paw Up
Conte and charcoal drawing on paper 23 x 30.5 inches (58 x 78 cm)
29. Leopard Walking Towards Me
Conte and charcoal drawing on paper
20.5 x 23.5 inches (52 x 60 cm)
30. Leopard Striding
Conte and charcoal drawing on paper
24.5 x 27.5 inches (62 x 70 cm)
Rose Corcoran
Rose Corcoran
Panthera
31. Leopard Resting
Charcoal drawing on paper 49 x 79 inches (124 x 201cm)
33. Male Sumatran Tiger and Cub Sleeping
Charcoal drawing on paper
40 x 46.5 inches (102 x 118 cm)
32. Young Tiger
Charcoal drawing on paper
63 x 50.5 inches (161 x 128 cm)
Biography
Rose Corcoran (b. 1972) studied History of Art at Edinburgh University (1991-94) and Fine Art at City and Guilds, London (1995-98). She completed her Masters degree at the Royal College of Art in 2000.
A period living in northern India in 1990 was formative in her artistic development, and with many visits since, she has established a close relationship with the subcontinent. She first saw tigers in the wild at Kahna (the setting of Kipling’s ‘Jungle Book’), and she was overwhelmed by the contrast with her experience of only seeing tigers in captivity, where she had previously studied them.
She became fascinated by the paradoxical power of big cats – their fearsome strength, yet their affectionate and nurturing nature to their young. The endangered status of these awesome animals became a passionate concern as she met the renowned animal campaigner Valmik Thapar, and through him visited Ranthambore Reserve, one of the last strongholds of the wild tiger.
Rose believes in making art for a purpose and intends her work to highlight the magnificence of the nature she depicts, but also its nearness to extinction through the actions of human beings. As much as depicting individual animals, she aspires to evoke the essence and vitality of the species in each image, with her own talent and passion for her chosen subject matter.
Like her great predecessors in the depiction of animals, such as Rembrandt Bugatti, Antoine-Louis Barye or George Stubbs, she seeks to convey movement and the potential for movement, as well as the ‘fearful symmetry’ of her beasts. Whilst she has a deep knowledge of the traditional techniques of drawing and printmaking, she marries these to a bold use of modern technology. She sometimes deploys video footage of animals in action, freeze-framing to analyse their structure and movement and she uses photographic techniques to construct complex, compound images of animals. Some of Rose’s drawings are massively over scale. Even larger than lifesize studies of the beasts are not uncommon.
Corcoran is an artist both deeply traditional and clearly contemporary. Her work is dedicated to a secure future for her animal subjects in their natural habitat, which also assures her own future in the art world.
In 2021 Rose launched her book ‘Rose Corcoran’s Alphabet of Animals’ bringing together a collection of 26 of her signature charcoal drawings of endangered animals with personally selected quotations and poems to highlight the threat that human populations pose to the survival of these creatures and their habitats.
She has built up a dedicated following for her impressive drawings. She has exhibited with the Sladmore in London with solo shows in 2018 and 2021 and at many art fairs in the UK and internationally, as well as having solo exhibitions in Paris, New York and Santa Fe.
Exhibitions
2000 Sladmore Gallery, London - first solo exhibition
2001 ART London Fair, London - contemporary art fair
2001 Galerie la Cymaise, Paris - solo exhibition
2002 Sladmore Gallery, London – solo exhibition
2004 Sladmore Gallery, London – solo exhibition
2006 Gerald Peters Gallery, New York
2007 Instincts, Gerald Peters Gallery, Santa Fe, New Mexico
2007 The Others, Sladmore Gallery, London
2009 Spirit, Sladmore Gallery, London
2012 Wild and Wonderful, Sladmore Gallery, London
2014 Bold and Beautiful, Asprey’s, London
2015 Old Friends, New Faces, Sladmore Gallery, London
2018 The Watchers, Sladmore Contemporary, London
2018 Start, Art fair, London
2019 Art Miami, Art fair, USA
2021 Alphabet of Animals, Sladmore Contemporary and Sladmore Gallery, London
2023 Treasure House Art Fair, London
2024 Treasure House Art Fair, London
Books
Contributing writer and Illustrator to ‘Tigers: The Ultimate Guide’ by Valmik Thapar 2005
Contributing Illustrator to ‘Tiger Fire’ by Valmik Thapar 2014
Illustrator to ‘Living with Tigers’ by Valmik Thapar 2016
Rose Corcoran, ‘Alphabet of Animals’ White Fox Publishing, 2021
Acknowledgments
Photography
Richard Valencia
Sophie Lindsay
Rose Corcoran
Design
Chris Hall
Picture Framing
The Gloucester Room, London
