Large RICHARD SLOAN PURPLE MARTIN BIRD ART PRINT

Updated August 8, 2026

Lot number	249
Auction	CENTREVILLE, MISSISSIPPI Van Cleave FAMILY LIVING ESTATE
Date	August 13, 2026 at 7:30 PM EDT
Auction house	Bell Remnants
Location	McComb, Mississippi

NO SHIPPING ~ LOCAL PICKUP ONLY > , A notably large example, measuring 28" wide x 35" tall to the rustic natural wood frame, with a sight measurement beneath the mat of approximately 20.75" x 27" presented under glass with a broad muted olive mat, this 1968 colored print by American wildlife artist Richard Sloan depicts a male and female Purple Martin arranged among flowering branches. The upper bird spreads long, tapered wings above the deep blue-black male perched below, while white blossoms, pink buds and green foliage soften the finely observed ornithological composition. The upper left corner reads PLATE No. 1, with Purple Martin ~ Progne subis printed below the image. Sloan’s signature appears within the plate, accompanied by a separate pen signature at the lower right. Purple Martin was the first plate in Sloan’s numbered American bird series. The subject was especially well chosen for an opening plate: the Purple Martin is North America’s largest swallow, recognized by powerful aerial flight, long pointed wings and the adult male’s glossy blue-purple plumage. Across the eastern United States, the species has developed an extraordinary relationship with people, nesting almost exclusively in purpose-built martin houses and suspended gourds. That long association has made the Purple Martin one of the most familiar and enthusiastically cultivated birds of the American South. Richard Sloan (1935–2007) trained at the American Academy of Art in Chicago, worked as an advertising illustrator and later served as staff artist for Chicago’s Lincoln Park Zoo. Following a sold-out 1966 exhibition, Sloan devoted his career to wildlife painting and field observation, eventually becoming particularly celebrated for detailed studies of rainforest animals and habitats. His work appeared in major museum exhibitions and collections, and the Leigh Yawkey Woodson Art Museum named him a Master Wildlife Artist in 1994. This early bird plate already demonstrates the qualities that defined Sloan’s later work: anatomical accuracy, close observation of plumage and movement, and careful integration of wildlife with surrounding vegetation.

Large RICHARD SLOAN PURPLE MARTIN BIRD ART PRINT

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