Landing a Big Pike in Rough Water, a pen and ink sketch by Frederic Whiting 1902

WHITING, Frederic (1867-1936). An anxious moment: landing a big pike in rough water.
 
[London, for The Daily Graphic], 1902.
 
Original pen-and-ink drawing on paper, 340 × 200 mm. On card, executed in black ink with vigorous linear cross-hatching; signed and dated “Frederic Whiting 02” at lower right. Original caption slip mounted below: “AN ANXIOUS MOMENT: LANDING A BIG PIKE IN ROUGH WATER.” Verso with light studio and editorial markings, and minor surface soiling. Very good.
 
A finished newspaper illustration by Frederic Whiting (1867–1936), one of the principal staff artists of The Daily Graphic and a leading figure in late-Victorian and Edwardian press illustration. The scene captures a boat party battling wind and chop while bagging a large pike, rendered with the dramatic, calligraphic line and dense tonal modelling characteristic of Whiting’s work for illustrated weeklies. Whitling trained at the Royal Academy for the Arts and made his name as a staff artist for the illustrated press, mainly the Graphic, drawing sporting events or subjects such as this or dramatic reportage drawings.