172:, then serving as United States Ambassador to the Court of St. James, to paint a series of eastern Pennsylvanian birds for his private collection. Also in 1971, a chance encounter with another American collector, Jack Warner, led to the commissioning of "The Wild Birds of America" series. Described as a "very ambitious project", the commission was to paint every species of wild bird in North America, 650 in all, in life size. Robert McCracken Peck, in his essay "Four Centuries of Avian Portraiture", says that the project "...has been compared in scope to John James Audubon's twenty eight year effort to document and celebrate the birds of North America", but adds, "so limited a comparison fails to put into proper perspective the much larger tradition of bird painting in America with which both Audubon and Ede are intimately interlinked." The project was cut short in 1989, after Ede suffered a serious illness. However, a total of ninety five life sized portraits of North American birds, in watercolour, were completed for the collection by Ede, between 1975 and 1989. Today they form part of the Warner Art Collection in the United States. In 1991, the book "Wild birds of America - the Art of Basil Ede" was published by Harry N. Abrams, featuring 103 colour reproductions from the Wild Birds of America series, as well as reproductions from Ede's field notes and sketches. In his foreword, Prince Philip, himself a collector of Ede's work, ranked the English painter among the world's great wildlife artists.
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Southampton and Japan, via Suez, Aden, Columbo, Hong Kong, Singapore and Pusan. In addition to these duties, the ship was at this time deployed to help transport
British troops and equipment to and from the Korean War. Ede was to become fascinated by the Far East and in particular by its art. This was undoubtedly to have an influence on his later work. Coming ashore for good, Ede joined Cunard Line as a young executive in 1956. By now he spent most of his spare time painting and negotiating with galleries and publishers. His employers, far from being annoyed, actually commissioned him to design a series of covers for their first class menu cards on the RMS Queen Elizabeth and RMS Queen Mary. In 1964 Ede left Cunard and became a full time artist.
191:. Within a year he was once again painting competently and within three he was able to paint in considerable detail. In May 1992, some of Ede's new works in oils were exhibited at the Tryon and Morland Gallery in London as part of their "Twenty years in Cork Street" show. Also in 1992, Ede was honoured with a "Lifetime Achievement Award" by the Southeastern Wildlife Exposition in Charleston, South Carolina. In July 1993, the Wimborne Arts Festival (Dorset, UK) chose to honour Ede with a one-man exhibition of his work in oils.
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he was commissioned into the RASC, serving as Second
Lieutenant and then Lieutenant . On leaving the army at the end of 1951, Ede joined the Merchant Navy, and he set sail on his maiden voyage as a purser on board Orient Line's Empire Orwell in early 1952. The ship's established route was between
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Following a severe stroke in 1989, Ede was left with his right arm paralysed and taught himself to paint with his left hand instead. "I lost the use of my right side completely and I couldn't speak." he later told Nigel
Reynolds in an interview for
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In 1965, Ede's first book, "Birds of Town and
Village" was published by Country Life Books, featuring thirty six plates of his work in full colour. The publication features a foreword written by
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The first one-man exhibition of Basil Ede's work was held at the
Rowland Ward Gallery in London in 1958. Further one man exhibitions followed at London's Tryon Gallery in 1960 and 1962.
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Basil Ede died on 29 September 2016, at the age of eighty five, following a short illness. He is survived by his wife, and two sons.
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Foreword by HRH The Prince Philip, Duke of
Edinburgh, "Wild Birds of America, The Art of Basil Ede" Abrams 1991
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Foreword by HRH The prince Philip, Duke of
Edinburgh,"Wild Birds of America, The Art of Basil Ede" Abrams 1991
455:"Four Centuries of Avian Portraiture" Robert McCracken Peck, Fellow, Academy of Natural Sciences, Abrams, 1991
467:"Four Centuries of Avian Portraiture" Robert McCracken Peck, Fellow, Academy of Natural Sciences, Abrams 1991
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219:(Severn House Publications & Van Nostrand Reinholt Inc. 1980, Hamlyn Paperbacks edition 1982)
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213:(Country Life Books 1965, Octopus Publishing Group Ltd 2004 - reprinted 2006, 2007, 2009)
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and a life member and active supporter of the Royal
Society for the Protection of Birds.
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Field Notes and
Recollections, "Wild Birds of America, The Art Of Basil Ede" Abrams 1991
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Field Notes and
Recollections, Wild Birds of America, The Art of Basil Ede. Abrams 1991
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In 1964, Ede became the first living artist to be honoured with a one-man show at the
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The event was sponsored by the British Embassy, the English Speaking Union and the
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559:"Wildscape, The Journal of Wildlife Art and Conservation" volume 2 number 2
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Field Notes and Recollections. Wild Birds of America, The Art of Basil Ede
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In 1966, 1971 and 1979 one man exhibitions of Ede's work were held at the
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Preface and flyleaf, "Basil Ede's Birds", Severn House Publications 1980
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in November 1999. He switched his chosen medium from watercolour to
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https://web.archive.org/web/20130813133814/http://ulstermuseum.org/
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The Tryon Gallery, London, 1960, 1962, 1964, 1965, 1968, 1975, 1980
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Flyleaf, "Wild Birds of America, The Art of Basil Ede" Abrams 1991
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The Pieter Wenning Gallery, Johannesburg, South Africa, 1966
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The National Collection of Fine Arts, Washington DC, 1964
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Introduction, "Basil Ede's Birds" Hamlyn Paperbacks 1982
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The Wimborne Arts Festival, Dorset, United Kingdom, 1993
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W. D. Campbell, republished by Chartwell Books in 2004.
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The Gibbs Art Museum, Charleston, South Carolina, 1979
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The Hibernian Hall, Charleston, South Carolina, 1984
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The Warner Art Collection, Tuscaloosa, Alabama, USA
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270:Represented in Major Exhibitions at
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67:Nationality
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305:References
99:Early life
46:1931-02-12
85:Basil Ede
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70:British
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105:Surrey
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55:Died
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