Ogden Minton Pleissner (American, 1905-1983). “October Snow,” 1959. Framed with a Letter Written to George R. Packard. Color lithograph, signed in the print “Pleissner” lower right, and signed “Ogden M Pleissner N.A.” in pencil beneath, (15.875 x 23.75 inches, sight), privately published and copyrighted for the members of the Anglers’ Club of New York in a limited edition of 350, with a portion of the stamp lower right.Frame: H: 27.375 in., W: 32.25 in., D: .75 in.The letter cut in sections and written on Pleissner‘s letterhead, addressed to George R. Packard, 152 Walnut Street, Philadelphia, PA., and dated Feb. 4th, 1962. It reads:”Dear Mr. Packard: I am happy, indeed, to hear, that it took you two years to notice the handling of the shotgun in my gunner’s hands. Nobody in their right mind would or could shoot in that manner. I have had many people mention this fact to me and I regret it just happens to be one of those little things an artist misses from time to time. I forgot to paint the comb of the stock against the man’s cheek. I am not a novice, by any means, in the field of gunning and I know very well how much your new discovery meant to you. I regret this fault and I promise to try, not to let it happen again. You see I never noticed it until after the picture was reproduced. Sincerely yours, Ogden M Pleissner“. Liveauctioneers
Pleissner is one of the best, or is the best, sporting artists from America. I used to hang with a collector who had this print. I don’t think he or I ever noticed this which is slightly embarrassing. I am glad I saw this however as it is a neat bit of history in its own right. There is so much of that that is lost in the art world. I talked to a gallery owner who dealt in Pleissner’s, and others, work once. Somehow, I heard they had a lot of records on paintings and other info. He said it went to the dump. I was aghast.
This October Snow print is one of his more desirable ones. He only had a few prints done of his work.
I hunted grouse this year for the first time in ages. I had a couple of shots, the first of which was one of the best I ever made. Everything seemed to go perfectly. Like a lot of events, it comes down to a mental game. By not having the pent up desire to make shots as in the past, I was surprised at how I had time to access the flush and swing on it. The flush of a grouse is so panic-inducing to shoot quickly that it is a grouse’s greatest defence. The second bird I flushed had me back to square one. LOL
A couple of weeks ago, I was up where I cut out some pole timber to plant trees. I heard a grouse flush unseen as I got there and when I got to the cleared patch another flushed down through. The bird glided\flapped through the thinned trees for 20-30 yards, always in sight. It was a thing of beauty and I groaned at the missed chance. I hadn’t seen grouse there before so that was slightly odd and the bird looked huge and very dark as well. It was a memorable moment.