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STEPHEN ELMER, A.R.A. 



(Born 1717. Died 1796.) 



STEPHEN ELMER was born at Farnham, 

 Surrey, in 1717. The son of a maltster, 

 he was brought up to his father's business ; 

 but while following that occupation he found 

 ample time to devote to artistic pursuits and won 

 success as a painter of animals and birds, rural 

 scenes and still life. In the last department of 

 art, in the portrayal of dead game, fish, flowers, 

 and fruit he particularly excelled ; but his pictures 

 of birds, more especially of game birds, combine 

 with high artistic merit, great accuracy of draw- 

 ing and fidelity to life ; he possessed in a degree 

 that has been rarely exceeded the gift of seizing 

 the characteristic pose or attitude of birds, and 

 betrays a knowledge of their ways of life and 

 habits that only a careful student of nature can 

 acquire. Notwithstanding the nicety of touch re- 

 quired for the accurate presentation of the plumage 

 of birds, Elmer was master of a bold and free style 

 of draughtsmanship which lends individuality to his 

 pictures. Character studies occur occasionally in 



