John Keulemans

John Gerrard Keulemans  1842-1912
The Dutch-born, zoological illustrator relocated to England in 1869 and, for the next thirty years, he was the major bird book illustrator. His capacity for hard work resulted in a prolific output of a consistently high standard and, more importantly for his clients’ requirements, scientific accuracy.

Bullers Birds of New Zealand Vol. I is regarded as one of his finest works as an artist and a chromolithographer.

“He was gifted with a superb sense of draughtsmanship and revealed his considerable versatility in capturing the significant subtleties of colour, form and expression in the birds and other animals represented in his various illustrations”. [“Feathers to Brush”, T. Keulemans & J. Coldeway. P.47.]

However, when allowed to pursue his more creative artistic side, Keulemans produced some remarkable works - mostly watercolours - that today are highly regarded and sought after.

He continued working as an illustrator right up to the end of his life, and was able to complete the illustrations for the first four volumes of Birds of Australia for Gregory Mathews before he died in 1912.

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