J. Fenwick Lansdowne - Victoria

Like John James Audubon before him, Fenwick Lansdowne is a self-taught artist who has specialized in painting birds in perfect detail. His meticulous and sensitive paintings of the birds of North America have given immense pleasure to many people around the world, awakening in them an appreciation of the wealth of natural diversity in our world.

Mr. Lansdowne has combined an interest in birds and drawing since the age of 12. With that early beginning, his art has evolved to capture the finest details of the bird fauna of the world and the essence of their natural beauty in both his paintings and his writings.

His first exhibition of watercolours in Toronto's Royal Ontario Museum secured his place in the world of nature paintings. Since that time his works have been displayed around the world, including the Audubon House in New York, the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C., and the National Museum of Science in Ottawa, to name a few.

His paintings have been presented by the Government of Canada to various members of the Royal Family.

His three illustrated books on the birds of Canada have made major contributions to the field of natural history. Fellow nature-enthusiast the Duke of Edinburgh wrote in the Foreword to one of these books: "Fenwick Lansdowne has the exceptional ability to capture such moments (in birds) with a seemingly effortless assurance which can only come from intimate knowledge, immense care, and remarkable talent."