Pointers on the scent

Thomas Blinks ranks as one of the best known and most highly regarded British dog painters of the 19th Century. Born at Mardston, his family soon moved to Ticehurst, Sussex, where the young Blinks went to school. He was sketching animals by the age of ten, and although he wanted to study art, his father insisted that he be apprenticed to a tailor. Although he did not receive any formal training, his keen observation and innate natural talent soon had him executing paintings of sporting life with an almost photographic quality. He worked in both watercolor and oil although his best works were executed in the latter medium. He first exhibited at the Dudley Gallery in 1881 and at the Royal Academy in 1883. He exhibited twenty-nine works at the Royal Academy between 1883 and 1910.

Edward Chandler Walker was the eldest son of Hiram Walker, founder of the Hiram Walker Distillery. Arthur Hiram Buhl was the son of Julia Elizabeth Walker, the eldest daughter of Hiram Walker, and Theodore Buhl. The Buhls like the Walkers were prominent in the Detroit area. E.C. Walker was a patron of the arts and one of the founders of the Art Institute of Detroit. He furnished his large house, which still exists, and the Company executive offices with his art collection. Paintings that were not bequeathed to family and friends were given to the Smithsonian in Washington.