(White buck in the forest; image on verso with child beside lake) by Elline Eyermann Asisoff

(White buck in the forest; image on verso with child beside lake) by Elline Eyermann Asisoff

(White buck in the forest; image on verso with child beside lake)

Elline Eyermann Asisoff

Title

(White buck in the forest; image on verso with child beside lake)

 
Artist
Year
c. 1920  
Technique
watercolor 
Image Size
7 1/8 x 5 5/8" image and paper size 
Signature
initialed in lower right support 
Edition Size
1 of 1 unique 
Annotations
verso signed in ink, lower right margin 
Reference
 
Paper
cream wove 
State
 
Publisher
 
Inventory ID
4336 
Price
SOLD
Description

Two pieces of art on one sheet of paper are presented as a gift to Georg Brochner (1874 - 1933), the Danish art collector, critic, and writer for the British magazine The Studio in the early 20th century. On one side is a watercolor painting of a white stag standing on the frozen surface of a pond, appearing to send a call across the wintery forest. On the other, a small and simple illustration of a child seated on a rock in the middle of a lake, perhaps drawn as a preliminary sketch for a future book.

On nearly every continent there are legends regarding white stags, white harts, and white deer. From the Celts to Christians to American Indians of the West Coast, there is great meaning in sightings of deer and other antlered animals with the condition leucism, signaled by the depletion of color in the hair and skin. Depending on the culture, these sightings are sometimes considered lucky to the viewer and sometimes considered a warning. Coming from Denmark, the significance of Elline Eyerman Asisoff’s depiction is likely of Christian origin.