theibis,1874

Contemporary obituaries of Keulemans

Ardea, Vol. I/2, p. 54  

(Juli 1912)

JOHANNUS GERARDUS KEULEMANS [†].

Onze landgenoot, de bekende vogelteekenaar J. G. Keulemans is den 29sten Maart 1912 op den leeftijd van 

bijna 70 jaar te Southend-on-Sea in Engeland overleden. In Juni 1842 te Rotterdam geboren, kwam Keulemans 

als jongeling in Leiden en in kennis met Dr. H. Schlegel, die in hem den vogelteekenaar van meer dan 

gewoon talent ontdekte en hem aanspoorde zieh in de richting van het wetenschappelijk vogelteekenen te 

bekwamen. Keulemans was eenigen tijd als assistent aan het Rijks Museum te Leiden werkzaam, doch vertrok 

tegen het eind der zestiger jaren naar Engeland, waar hij tot zijn dood is blijven wonen.

Keulemans' werk, vooral dat van vroeger tijd, munt uit door een nauwkeurigheid en volmaaktheid, zooals    

deze zelden bij een artist worden aangetroffen.

De platen, die hij voor wetenschappelijke ornithologische werken geleverd heeft, zijn legio, verreweg het 

grootst in aantal ooit door een teekenaar gemaakt. Er verscheen tot voor körten tijd bijna geen important, 

geillustreerd vogelwerk, of de platen waren door Keulemans vervaardigd. Uit zijn begintijd hebben wij in  

het Nederlandsch een door hem geschreven werk in drie deelen, „Onze vogels in huis en tuin", versierd met 200

platen, voor het meerendeel juweeltjes van zijne kunst.

van Oort.

Our fellow countryman, the renown bird painter J. G. Keulemans died 29th March 1912 at nearly 70 years of age at         

Southend-on-Sea, England.  Born in June, 1842 in Rotterdam, Keulemans at a young age arrived in Leiden as an assistant to Dr. 

H. Schlegel, who took note of his interest in rendering avian subjects with scientific accuracy and urged him to further 

develop his abilities.  Keulemans also for some time worked  at the National Museum in Leiden, but by the end of the 1860s he

parted for England, where he continued to live until his death.  

Keulemans' work, his earlier work in particular, is distinguished by its precision and perfection, as these are rarely   

found in an artist.

The plates, which he produced prolifically in scientific and ornithological works, are by far the greatest in number 

ever made by a draughtsman.  Until recently, there appeared no important, illustrated bird book without having the plates    

created by Keulemans.  From his early days in the Netherlands, he produced one written work of three parts, 'Onze vogels in 

huis en tuin;' having 200 plates, is for the greater part one of his masterpieces.

British Birds, Vol. VI/2, p. 58

(July 1, 1912)

THE LATE JOHN GERHARD KEULEMANS.   One of the most interesting personages connected with the  ornithological world of the latter part of the nineteenth  century has passed away. To most of the younger school  Keulemans, who died on March 29th 1912, at the age of sixty-  nine years, was known only by name, and few realized the  individuality of the unassuming artist, or recognised that  for thirty years he was the unrivalled and unequalled draughts-  man of ornithological subjects. From 1870 to 1900 scarcely  any ornithological work of importance was complete without  "illustrations by Keulemans," and his sureness of design,  combined with his facility of expression, made his beautiful  figures always a delight to refer to.   Keulemans was a man of few words, and the following  brief details of his life will probably be as novel to most as  they were to the present writer.   Born on June the 8th, 1842, at Rotterdam, of Dutch parents,  he was early imbued with the love of natural history, and  gifted with Art he entered Leiden Museum at the age of  eighteen, and worked there for two years. The love of travel,  which characterized his whole life, then led him to Africa on  a collecting trip, and at one time he had a coffee plantation  on the west coast, but fever forced him to return to Europe,  where he again took up a position in the Leiden Museum.   The work which made him world-famous, however, com-  menced in 1869, when he came to England to illustrate books  for Bowdler Sharpe, and from that time onwards the drawing  and painting of bird-subjects was his sole pursuit.   But his love of travel still continued, and in these years he  journeyed over almost the whole of Europe. He was an  exceptionally good linguist, speaking five languages fluently.  His chief hobby was music, the 'cello being his favourite  instrument, and on this he was an accomplished performer.  That he was an ardent Spiritualist, having contributed much  to the literature of the subject, will seem strange to those  who knew him only as the artist.   He was twice married and leaves nine children.   Of Keulemans it can be truly written "Er liebt in seiner  Werken," as a reference to his beautiful figures must always  induce thoughts of the artist. Gregory M. Mathews. 

Calamodyta brevipennis

--A complete checklist of the Birds of the World.  Richard Howard and Alick Moore.  Oxford, 1980.  442, 650

--A complete checklist of the Birds of the World.  Richard Howard and Alick Moore.  Revised ed.  Oxford, 1984.  442, 650

--The Photographic Guide to Birds of the World.  Andrew Gosler.  Mallard Press (Hamlyn), 1991.  357

--A complete checklist of the Birds of the World.  Richard Howard and Alick Moore.  2nd ed.  Academic Press, 1991.  342, index

--"Forty-four bird species breed on the islands; four of these (a swift, lark, warbler, and sparrow) are endemic."  57.  Alden, Peter C. et. al.  National Audubon Society Field Guide to African Wildlife.  Knopf, 1995.

--The Howard and Moore Complete Checklist of the Birds of the World.  Third Edition.  Princeton, 2003.  584, 901, 1037

--The Photographic Guide to Birds of the World.  Andrew Gosler.  Revised ed.  2006-7

Hazevoet, Bannerman, HM2 rev., Morony, Clements (7), Walters, Edwards; email 28 Apr. 

Ill.--Handb., Threatened B., Bannerman

KEULEMANS

references in lit. to 1912, posthumous plates (Mathews), text of NHCB, text from other works, other papers by JGK (if any)

Bird families not illustrated by JGK