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RICHARD E. BISHOP
(1887 - 1975)

Although Mr. Bishop is best known as an artist, author, photographer, and sportsman, his formal training and first career were in engineering. He was born in Syracuse, New York on May 30, 1887, the son of Richard Whitney and Minnie (Blackall) Bishop. He graduated from Cornell University in 1909 with an M.E. degree and went to work as an electrical engineer for the Cutler-Hammer Manufacturing Company in Milwaukee. In 1915 he married the former Mary Ellen Harrington.

He served as a Captain in the Army Chemical Warfare Service during World War 1, receiving his discharge in 1919. The young couple moved to Philadelphia where Mr. Bishop worked at a manufacturing plant as both Secretary and Sales Manager, positions he held until his retirement from business in 1933. Early in his tenure at the factory, with an inviting pile of copper plates at hand, and his natural yen and flair for drawing, he waxed a plate and scribed his first etching with the aid of a phonograph needle.

It was to be expected that his subject should be birds, for he was an enthusiastic wildfowler and a top-ranking field shot. Being an engineer as well, and a perfectionist, he wanted to portray the wing action and flight of birds as correctly as possible. High-speed photography was the answer, and with characteristic thoroughness he took thousands of feet of movie film of birds in flight at the rate of 128 frames per second. His pictures of birds are among the finest ever taken. He has applied the knowledge gained from careful study of these pictures, and from field observations and sketches, to many art media: etchings, drypoints, aqua prints, oil paintings, watercolors, jewelry, tiles, medals, glassware, and china.

His handsomely decorated glassware and china are widely admired, but book lovers cherish the beautiful books he produced. Bishop's Birds, 1936, contains 73 Bishop etchings done between 1924 and 1936, reproduced in aquatone. It was the first complete publication of his work. Bishop's Wildfowl, 1948, is a collection of reproductions of etchings and oil paintings, with 12 color plates. Prairie Wings, 1962, was done in collaboration with Mr. Edgar M. Queeny, and consists of pen and camera flight studies with explanatory sketches by Mr. Bishop.

For two years during World War II, Mr. Bishop returned to engineering as head of the Production Division of the War Production Board in Philadelphia, and later became Deputy Director.

In 1950, and again in 1953, Mr. Edgar M. Queeny organized two safaris in Africa under the auspices of the American Museum of Natural History in New York for the purpose of recording native birds and animals on film and soundtrack. Mr. Bishop was invited to join both expeditions, and in addition, has traveled throughout North and South America, Great Britain, and the Pacific Islands.

Mr. Bishop was a member of the American Society of Etchers, Chicago Society of Etchers, Print Makers of California, Zoology Society of Philadelphia, Academy of Natural Sciences, Franklin Institute in Philadelphia, and numerous clubs. His work has been exhibited at the Academy of Fine Arts, Philadelphia; Chicago Art Institute; Cleveland Museum of Art; National Academy, New York; and National Museum in Washington, D. C.