Sir Edwin Henry Landseer

London sporting, animal and portrait painter and sculptor, Sir Edwin Henry Landseer was the son of an engraver. As a boy, Landseer was fond of drawing animals. He entered RA schools at the age of fourteen. Encouraged by B.R. Haydon, Landseer studied dissection and anatomy to perfect his knowledge of animals. In 1826, he was elected to the ARA. In 1834, Landseer paid his first of many visits to Highlands, with C.R. Leslie. His many pictures of Highland animals and sporting scenes helped to establish the vogue for Scottish subjects. Queen Victoria was a great admirer of Landseer's work. She owned a large number of dogs and commissioned Landseer to paint them. Landseer also designed sculpture. He was commissioned to model the bronze lions in Trafalgar Square. Among his best-known works are The Old Shepherd's Chief Mourner, Dignity and Impudence, Monarch of the Glen, and The Stag at Bay. Although a brilliant painter of animals, Landseer pandered to the Victorian taste for monkey pictures, comical dogs, and excessive sentiment. For this reason some of his pictures find little flavor today, but his sketches and drawings are much appreciated for their wonderful observation and superb brushwork.

Sir Edwin Henry Landseer Images:
A Lion in a Rocky Landscape
Looking for Crumbs from the Richman’s Table
Shoeing
The Arab Tent
The Monarch of the Glen