James Fenwick Lansdowne was a Canadian wildlife artist whose work focused on birds and was frequently compared to that of renowned nineteenth century naturalist and painter John James Audubon. Lansdowne was born in Hong Kong and raised in Victoria, British Columbia, where he lived for most of life and where he had a studio. He was bedridden or in a wheelchair for long portions of his childhood due to polio, and it was during this time he taught himself to paint. Despite having receiving no formal training in art, by the time he was 20 his work had been exhibited at the Royal Ontario Museum and he had been profiled by MacLean's magazine as one of Canada's foremost bird artists. In addition to his paintings, his work was featured in advertisements, books, and even presented to the British Royal Family. Lansdowne was elected a member of the Royal Canadian Academy of Arts (1974), made an Officer of the Order of Canada (1976), and awarded the Order of British Columbia (1995).