Fernando Fader (Argentine, 1882-1935) Caballos en el corral Oil on canvas 34-1/2 x 54-1/2 inches (87.6 x 138.4 cm) Initialed lower right: F.F. PROVENANCE: David Steele, Woody Creek, Colorado; Private collection, Manassas, Virginia, acquired from the above. European-born and trained Fernando Fader was one of the preeminent 20th-century animal painters of Argentina. Born in Bordeaux, France, Fader moved to Mendoza in western Argentina when his parents relocated there when he was two years old. Although he returned to France only a few years later to receive a European education through secondary school, Fader went back to Mendoza following his graduation. It was then that he first began painting, and discovered his passion. In 1900 he decided to relocate to Europe once again, this time to Munich where he enrolled in a vocational school specifically to obtain the skills necessary to achieve admission to the prestigious Munich Academy of the Fine Arts. Upon gaining admission Fader studied with one of the finest animaliers of the period, Heinrich von Zügel. Fader first exhibited his work at the Costa Salon in 1906, in Buenos Aires, where he established himself following his training in Munich. He worked in both an Impressionist and Post-Impressionist style, earning prizes and medals in juried competitions, including a gold medal at the Pacific International Exposition in San Francisco in 1915. An onset of tuberculosis forced the artist to relocate to the drier climate of the Andean foothills. The change of scenery had a profound impact on his art. The bucolic surroundings, particularly scenes of farm life, became his primary subject and the one for which he is best-known and most celebrated. The strong dappled light falling on the landscape and the coats of the animals he lovingly recorded became his hallmark. Eventually succumbing to chronic asthma, the artist was forced into seclusion and had to give up painting his outdoor subjects, turning instead to still life, nudes, and portraits. In 1924, Fader was honored with a retrospective of his work at the National Academy of the Fine Arts. HID03101062020 © 2020 Heritage Auctions | All Rights Reserved