Delusive hopes: mallard amongst the bullrushes startled by a fox

The present drawing is unusual in Thorburn's oeuvre for its strong narrative. Best known as a portraitist of birds, Thorburn was also fascinated by the ways in which birds and animals survived, particularly in the barren Scottish winter, and was one of the first wildlife artists to go out into the country and work from life. The early 1900s was arguably the strongest period of Thorburn's work, following his election as a Fellow of the Zoological Society in 1898.