.jpg?w=1)
Lot Essay
Richard Ansdell was born in Liverpool and educated at the Blue Coat School. He studied under the portrait painter W.C. Smith and then worked for an art dealer in Liverpool, before entering the Liverpool Academy in 1836, at the age of twenty-one. He first exhibited at the Royal Academy in London in 1840 and was elected President of the Liverpool Academy in 1845. He moved permanently to London in 1847 and the present painting is possibly the work exhibited at the British Institution in that year (no.295).
In 1806, James Daffrone, a contemporary of Ansdell's, commented in the Art Journal (p.233):
'Mr. Ansdell has closely studied animal life, that he represents it faithfully, vigorously, and picturesquely, and that his productions are among the best of their kind which our school - and, indeed, any other - has brought forward, is to pay him and them no higher compliment than is merited.'
The present work is a particularly dramatic example of the artist's work.
We are grateful to Sarah Kellam, a descendant of the artist, for her thoughts on this painting.
In 1806, James Daffrone, a contemporary of Ansdell's, commented in the Art Journal (p.233):
'Mr. Ansdell has closely studied animal life, that he represents it faithfully, vigorously, and picturesquely, and that his productions are among the best of their kind which our school - and, indeed, any other - has brought forward, is to pay him and them no higher compliment than is merited.'
The present work is a particularly dramatic example of the artist's work.
We are grateful to Sarah Kellam, a descendant of the artist, for her thoughts on this painting.