A Peruvian Spider Monkey (Ateles chamek), 1759

About the Work

The artist signed and dated his drawing of a Peruvian spider monkey on the back. Many of his watercolours, lacking such precise information, defy attribution to a certain phase. Schouman developed his virtuoso watercolour technique – which goes almost entirely without underdrawing – early on. He skilfully employed the brush and paints in such a way as to lend his animal depictions a strikingly palpable presence. As in the case of the monkey with its shiny fur, this quality distinguishes the main subjects from the delicately rendered background landscape to pleasing effect.