WorkOn receiving this study of two vultures, Ruskin wrote to Marks to thank him:
'I jumped all about the room when I got your letter. I've been gloating like a good vulture over those vultures ever since I got them, and have got wilder and wilder about them every day; and I'm just going to show them in my lecture here on Tuesday as examples of true natural history drawing' (
Works, 37, p. 229).
ArtistMarks was initially trained as a coach maker in London but was later allowed to train as an artist at the Royal Academy Schools and in Paris. From a young age, Marks had reasonable success as an artist but, as the son of poor parents, he supplemented his private work by painting large-scale domestic wall paintings. He also made designs for stained glass windows and ceramics, which were better paid. Marks helped design the massive frieze that runs around the Royal Albert Hall in London.
As Marks's career proceeded, he became interested in birds. He studied them and drew from life from the specimens at London Zoo. He was a member of the 'St John's Wood Clique' a group of artists, based in London who became known for their practical jokes.
Marks and Ruskin first met in 1856 and over the next two decades they grew to be friends. Once Marks became an established artist, the relationship cooled: Ruskin had continued to send Marks unwanted advice and demands for work.
Nevertheless, Ruskin and Marks shared an interest in the accurate representation of nature, and in the portrayal of birds in particular.