# Tolkien watercolor Aragorn found



## Cancerman (Jan 1, 2020)

_Hello there i contact you because i found in France a watercolor representing Aragorn with some sorte of signature you May be kind having a look at it i dont know much more on Tolkien than the lord of the ring. Watercolor is 40 x 45 cm 

thanks a lot

matt_

[QUOTE = "Cancerman, message: 529771, membre: 22103"]
Signature
[/CITATION]

Pictures


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## Squint-eyed Southerner (Jan 1, 2020)

Hello, Cancerman, and welcome to the forum.

Are you requesting information on the picture? I fear I am not able to read the words at the bottom. Perhaps you could try a higher resolution photo of the writing alone?


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## Cancerman (Jan 1, 2020)

Ok its written Aragorn the lord of the ring jrr Tolkien if you wish the original i Can send it to you by mail.

Thanks a lot

I red that Tolkien did watercolor painting and i was wondering if it could be from him

Matt


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## Squint-eyed Southerner (Jan 1, 2020)

What I can make out is:
Aragorn 
'The Lord of the Rings' ___ JRR Tolkien 

I can't read the word indicated by the lines.

Are you asking if this could be by Tolkien himself? If so, I doubt it -- but I am no expert.


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## Cancerman (Jan 1, 2020)

Yes i found it near Bordeaux but its not written in french but in english so it must come from England. There is the signature but i dont know anything on Tolkien


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## Squint-eyed Southerner (Jan 1, 2020)

Again, I'm no expert, but it doesn't look like his signature, or his artistic style. I'm sure others more knowledgeable will be along here shortly, who may be able to help.

One suggestion: if you do post any more photos, it would be helpful if you click "Full Image".


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## Squint-eyed Southerner (Jan 1, 2020)

Here are a couple of examples of his signature:



You can find more on line. And try googling "J.R.R. Tolkien Artwork" for art comparisons.


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## Cancerman (Jan 1, 2020)




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## Olorgando (Jan 1, 2020)

Squint-eyed Southerner said:


> What I can make out is:
> Aragorn
> 'The Lord of the Rings' ___ JRR Tolkien
> 
> ...


I would say the missing word is "by", so 'The Lord of the Rings' by JRR Tolkien.

I own a 1992 2nd edition of the originally 1979 _Pictures by J.R.R. Tolkien_, text by Christopher Tolkien.
This has now been to a degree been superseded by the 1995 _J. R. R. Tolkien: Artist and Illustrator_, edited by Wayne G. Hammond and Christina Scull.
The later book seems to cover much of the same terrain, perhaps with some additional work.

From the works contained in my decidedly large format book, I would say JRRT was mainly a landscape painter and not given to portraits.
Any characters are usually small, off to one side, and to my (artistically uneducated) eye of decidedly inferior quality compared to that picture attached above.
So from that vantage point I would guess that it was made by someone with decidedly greater artistic skill than JRRT possessed, especially in portraiture … (he knew his limitations)
But like Squint-eyed Southerner, I am definitely also not an expert.


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## Squint-eyed Southerner (Jan 1, 2020)

Yes, he admitted to not being very good with human figures -- and was pretty self-deprecating about his artistic abilities generally.


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## Cancerman (Jan 1, 2020)

Hello there

thanks for your answer its interesting and i forgot: there is something else written on the right of the portrait down i will take a picture tomorow.

Matt


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## Squint-eyed Southerner (Jan 3, 2020)

I'm afraid I am unable to make that out.


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