PRIMARY EDUCATION
I especially enjoyed painting this picture, an interpretation of a painting by Walter Frederick Osborne, circa 1859-1903. The simplicity and especially the patience of the boy and dog in feeding the crow, to the piece of bread in the boy’s hand, the good nature of the boy kneeling in the hope that the crow will feed from his hand perhaps he will make a new friend - no matter how long it takes! Looking at the painting left me wondering did the boy succeed in the end.
by WALTER FREDERICK OSBORNE
Walter Osborne was born in Dublin. He won many prizes at the RHA. In 1881 he travelled to France with friends J. M. Kavanagh and Nathaniel Hill where he studied. In the spring of 1883 Osborne was in Dinan. In the summertime they were all working side by side in Pont Aven, painting village and farmyard subjects before moving to Quimperle in the autumn. Although “Primary Education” was painted after his return from Brittany it is a good example of the influence his time there had on him.