Arthur Fitzwilliam Tait

Arthur Fitzwilliam Tait gave America its image of the sporting wilderness: deer at the lake’s edge at dawn, grouse exploding from cover, hunters and guides at the Adirondack camp. Reproduced by Currier & Ives, his pictures hung in parlors across the country; painted in oil, they hang today in the museums that collect the American outdoors.

If you own a Tait, Revere Auctions will value it without charge: free auction estimates from photographs of the front, back, and signature.

Who Was Arthur Fitzwilliam Tait?

Tait was born near Liverpool, England in 1819 and was largely self-taught, drawing from casts by night while working for an art dealer by day. In 1850 he emigrated to New York, and within a few years found both his subject and his public: the Adirondacks, where he kept a camp for decades and absorbed the sporting life at first hand.

His deer, trout, grouse, and camp scenes were exhibited at the National Academy of Design, which elected him a full Academician, and reproduced by Currier & Ives in lithographs that made him one of the most widely known artists in America — images like his frontier and hunting subjects were bestsellers for the firm.

Precise, prolific, and businesslike, he kept careful records of his output, which is a gift to collectors today. He worked into his eighties and died in Yonkers in 1905.

What Did Tait Paint?

The classic Taits are Adirondack sporting and wildlife subjects in oil: whitetail deer in morning mist, ruffed grouse and quail with their broods, anglers and guides, bears raiding camps. He also painted barnyard chicks and game still lifes, popular in his own day and now.

His pictures are small to medium in scale, tightly drawn, and finished to a Victorian polish — qualities that made them ideal for lithographic reproduction and that still define their appeal.

How Much Is My Arthur Fitzwilliam Tait Painting Worth?

Several things determine what a work by Arthur Fitzwilliam Tait brings at auction:

• Subject — deer and grouse subjects, and anything with the classic camp narrative, lead his market; barnyard subjects trade below the sporting scenes
• Connection to the famous prints — paintings related to well-known Currier & Ives images carry that fame with them
• Condition — his detailed surfaces reward preservation; heavy restoration is costly here
• Documentation — Tait numbered and recorded much of his work — a picture traceable in his register gains real authority
• Size and finish — exhibition-finished oils stand above sketches and studies

The honest answer is that no two are alike, and the difference between an ordinary example and an exceptional one is a conversation with a specialist, not a chart. Send us photographs through our free auction estimate form — front, back, signature, and any labels — and we will tell you what you have.

The Market for Tait

Tait’s oils typically bring solid four and five figures at auction, with prime sporting subjects reaching well into five figures in recent years and the rarest six. Collectors of American sporting art anchor the field, joined by Adirondack and Americana buyers.

Because subject drives so much of the value, an accurate specialist description — species, setting, register documentation — is worth real money at consignment.

How to Sell a Work by Tait

The strongest results for an Arthur Fitzwilliam Tait painting come at auction, where national and international collectors bid against each other. Revere Auctions offers free, no-obligation auction estimates: send photos and dimensions and our specialists respond with a current market valuation and a recommendation on how to sell. Consigned works are professionally photographed, cataloged, and marketed through our fine art auctions to a worldwide bidder base, and we regularly arrange shipping for consignors across the country. If you need a formal written valuation for insurance or estate purposes, our appraisal and valuation services team can help; you can also read more about how selling at auction works.

Related: American & Western paintings, our fine art department, appraisal services, free auction estimates.

Reviewed by the fine art specialists at Revere Auctions, St. Paul, Minnesota.

Arthur Fitzwilliam Tait: Frequently Asked Questions

How much is an Arthur Fitzwilliam Tait painting worth?

Typical oils bring four to five figures at auction, prime deer and grouse subjects more. Subject, condition, and documentation drive the range. Revere Auctions provides free auction estimates from photographs.

Was my Currier & Ives print painted by Tait?

Currier & Ives lithographed many Tait compositions; the prints are collectible but trade far below his oil paintings. If your work is on paper, it is likely a print — our specialists can confirm from photographs, free.

What subjects did A.F. Tait paint?

Adirondack deer, grouse, quail, trout, hunters, and camp life above all, plus barnyard chicks and game still lifes. He kept a camp in the Adirondacks for decades and painted the sporting life from experience.

Where can I sell an A.F. Tait painting?

At auction with a house that reaches American sporting art collectors. Revere Auctions offers free estimates and formal appraisals.

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