Robert Pease

1925-2004

The Blue Heron gallery was privileged to show Pease's work for more than twenty years. The gallery is fortunate to once again be in the position of offering examples of his extraordinary work.

A naturalist and artist, Robert Pease was born in Boston and graduated from the Swain School of Design in New Bedford MA as a commercial artist. As a freelance artist, he illustrated for many well-known firms, and his paintings and illustrations appear in such publications as the Saturday Evening Post, Outdoor life and Sports Afield.

Pease was an avid outdoorsman and in many ways lived the life he illustrated. He began sketching birds at an early age and was a true student of the animals he painted. When the animals were too exotic to be found in the wild, he would visit zoos and get to know them by name, sitting for hours sketching and observing. He often said that painting the animal, or bird, was the easy part; it was creating the environment for each one that was hard.

Pease was a member of the Society of Animal Artists, the oldest and most prestigious association for animals and wildlife painters and sculptors in the world. Pease’s intimate knowledge of the subjects he painted, their habits and habitats, enabled him to create his magnificent wildlife paintings.