A Well-Earned Rest

Born in Norfolk, the son of artist Henry William Emms, as a young man John Emms worked as a studio assistant to Lord Leighton. In the early 1860s, while Leighton was working on the fresco of The Wise and Foolish Virgins for St. Michael and All Angels Church in Lyndhurst, Emms — who is believed to have contributed the owl below the outstretched arms of the angel to right of center — traveled with the great Pre-Raphaelite painter. This first visit to Hampshire would set the artist on the course that would ultimately define the rest of his career. By 1872 he returned to Lyndhurst part-time while maintaining a studio in London and settled there permanently around 1881. Apart from the great natural beauty of this area of the New Forest, Lyndhurst also offered all manner of different types of hunting — pursuits very close to the artist's heart. A good horseman, avid huntsman and convivial guest, Emms soon found himself in high demand for the horse, hound and dog portraits he painted for members of the peerage and landed gentry throughout the British Isles.
Emms particularly specialized in paintings of hounds in kennels, and the artist was at his very best when he was painting dogs. His confident and fluid brushwork gives weight and solidity to the group, capturing both their individualized markings and temperaments in a manner which expresses the artist’s sensitive understanding of his subject-matter. Family history relates how Emms would walk to the kennel every day and return to his studio with hounds one by one as he undertook preliminary sketches for his compositions. While the dogs are relaxed, their expressions are still alert, giving a distinct personality and energy to each individualized dog.