Margaret Kirmse (1885-1954)

Born in Bournemouth, England, in 1885, Marguerite Kirmse displayed an early talent for music. Under the training of her mother, she took up the harp, eventually training in London at The Royal Academy of Music. In addition to her love of music, Marguerite demonstrated an equal fondness for animals and a talent for reproducing their images on paper. The young artist-musician spent a great deal of her spare time at the London Zoo. Later moving to New York, she became a regular visitor at the Bronx Zoo where keepers reportedly allowed her to take her drawing board into the cages of some of the animals. Etchings proved to be Kirmse’s forte. Her studies of hunting dogs in action appear in her book, Dogs in the Field. Her etchings also appear on magazine covers, as book illustrations, and in special commissions. In the latter 1920s, the artist turned her hand to sculpture and produced a series of miniatures of dogs in bronze Throughout the remainder of her life, Kirmse continued to illustrate books, produce etchings and take commissions for oils and bronzes.