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| 1818 Edwin Landseer self-portrait Pencil 20 x 15.5 cm National Portrait Gallery London |
Sir Edwin Henry Landseer (1802 – 1873) was
an English artist best known for his animal paintings and sculptures. Born in
London, the son of engraver John Landseer A.R.A.
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| 1796 St John the Baptist (after Benjamin West) Engraved by John Landseer A.R.A. |
Edwin was recognized early on as an
artistic prodigy and at the age of just 13, exhibited at the Royal Academy. He
was elected an Associate (A.R.A.) at the age of 24, and a Academician (R.A.)
five years later in 1831. In his late 30s Landseer suffered what is now
believed to be a ‘nervous breakdown’, and for the rest of his life was troubled
by hypochondria and depression, aggravated by alcohol and drug abuse. In the
last few years of his life his mental instability became more acute, and at the
request of his family, was declared insane in July 1872.
Landseer’s popularity in Victorian Britain
was considerable, and his reputation as an animal painter was unrivalled.
Possibly his most famous painting is ‘Monarch of the Glen’ (1851) which was
widely distributed at the time as engraved reproduction prints.
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| 1851 Monarch of the Glen Oil on canvas National Museum of Scotland |
Much of Landseer’s fame, and indeed income,
was generated by the publication of engravings of his work, many of them by his
brother Thomas Landseer.
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| Hand-coloured engraving by Thomas Landseer, after the painting 'Alexander and Diogenes by Edwin Landseer c. 1850 |
Queen Victoria commissioned several
paintings from Landseer – royal pets, then portraits of ghillies and
gamekeepers, then in the year before her marriage she commissioned a portrait
of herself, as a gift to Prince Albert. Landseer made portraits of the royal
babies, and two portraits of Victoria and Albert dressed for costume balls, at
which he was a guest himself.
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| 1842 Queen Victoria and Prince Albert at the Bal Costumé of 12 May 1842 Oil on canvas 143 x 112 cm Royal Collection |
Landseer is particularly associated with
Scotland, which he first visited in 1824, and you will see that many of his
works are of Scottish subjects.
In 1858 the government commissioned
Landseer to make four bronze lions for the base of Nelson’s Column in Trafalgar
Square, following the rejection of a set of stone lions sculpted by Thomas
Milnes. The monument was constructed between 1840 and 1843; the four bronze
lions were added in 1867.
The rejected stone lions were purchased by
industrialist Titus Salt, and can still be seen today at his ‘model’ village
Saltaire in Shipley, Yorkshire, now a World Heritage Site.
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| One of the stone lions by Thomas Milnes, now in Saltaire, Yorkshire |
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| Edwin Landseer by John Ballantyne Oil on canvas 80 x 113 cm National Portrait Gallery London |
Edwin Landseer died in October 1873, and
his death was widely marked in England. He was buried in St. Paul’s Cathedral,
London.
This part 1 of a 6 – part series on the
works of Edwin Landseer:
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| 1810c Portrait of Henry Landseer, Uncle of Edwin Pencil on cream paper 12.2 x 11.7 cm Royal Academy of Arts, London (Note: Landseer would have been around 8 years old) |
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| 1811 A Short-haired Dog in Profile Pencil on dark cream wove paper 8 x 11.3 cm Royal Academy of Arts, London |
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| 1811 Senegal Lion |
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| 1812 Portrait Sketch of 'Mr Clarke' in Profile Pencil on cream wove paper 13.8 x 14 cm Royal Academy of Arts, London |
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| 1813 The Dog 'Racket' Graphite on paper 15.9 x 22.9 cm Tate, London |
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| 1817 A Greyhound with a Hare Oil on canvas 43 x 54 cm Private Collection |
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| 1817 Ecorche drawing of a wild cat Black, red and white chalk and graphite on buff-coloured paper Victoria and Albert Museum, London |
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| 1817-21c Ecorche drawing of the head of a greyhound Black, red and white chalk on buff-coloured paper Victoria and Albert Museum, London |
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| 1817-22c Portrait of Sam Lovill, the Porter at the Royal Academy Black chalk heightened with white chalk over graphite 19.5 x 15.7 cm Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York City |
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| 1818c Chalk study of the hand of Laocoön Black and white chalk on prepared wove paper 37.8 x 35.8 cm Royal Academy of Arts, London |
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| 1819 Tapageur, the Poodle belonging to the Honorable Frederick Byng Oil on canvas 81.3 x 106.7 cm |
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| 1819 Venus, a Landseer Newfoundland with a Rabbit Oil on canvas 116 x 141 cm Private Collection |
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| 1819-23c A Boy and Two Greyhounds Resting Oil on canvas 70 x 89 cm Cake Abbey, National Trust, near Derby, UK |
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| 1820c A Hunting Scene Oil on canvas 54.5 x 71.7 cm Sudley House, Liverpool Museums, UK |
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| 1825-26 The Hunting of Chevy Chase Oil on canvas 143.5 x 170.8 cm Birmingham Museums and Art Gallery, UK |
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| 1876 Chevy Chace (Chase) Engraved by C.G.Lewis after Edwin Landseer 22.5 x 20.5 cm (sheet) |
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| 1821 Ratcatchers Oil on board 28 x 38.7 cm Amgueddfa Cymru, Cardiff , UK |
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| 1821-22 The Harper Oil on canvas 91.2 x 71 cm Tate, London |
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| 1822 A Spaniel Transparent and opaque watercolor over graphite on light brown wove paper, mounted on cardboard 25.4 x 27.8 cm Philadelphia Museum of Art, PA |
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| 1822 Count d'Orsay's Charger Oil on panel 25.8 x 40.5 cm Sheffield City Art Galleries, UK |
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| 1822 The Dog and the Shadow Oil on panel 45.1 x 54.6 cm Victoria and Albert Museum, London |
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| 1822 The Twa Dogs Oil on canvas 43.2 x 54 cm Victoria and Albert Museum, London |
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| The Twa Dogs Engraving by Charles Lewis after Edwin Landseer 27 x 22 cm |
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| 1823 Lord Henniker's Bay Mare, Brunette Oil on canvas 69 x 190 cm Vestey Gallery of British Sporting Art, British Sporting Art Trust, Newmarket, UK |
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| 1824 A Puppy Teasing a Frog Oil on canvas 35.5 x 44.5 cm Harris Museum and Art Gallery, Preston, UK |
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| 1824 John Crerar and His Pony Oil on board 58.4 x 43 cm Perth and Kinross Council, Scotland, UK |
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| 1824 Lion: A Newfoundland Dog Oil Victoria and Albert Museum, London |
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| 1824 (or after) Maida Pen and ink on light brown laid paper 9.5 x 14 cm Royal Academy of Arts, London |
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| 1824 Sancho Panza and Dapple Oil on panel 18.7 x 15.6 cm Victoria and Albert Museum, London |
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| 1824 Sir Walter Scott Oil on canvas 61 x 51 cm Walker Art Gallery, Liverpool, UK |
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| 1824c Sir Walter Scott, 1st Bt Oil on panel 29.2 x 24.1 cm National Portrait Gallery London |
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