Ernest Crofts

Ernest Crofts painted battles and military history: Napoleon’s campaigns, Waterloo and the English Civil War. His pictures are detailed and theatrical, with carefully researched uniforms, horses, smoke and troops, often seen at the quiet moment just before or after a fight.

He was born in Leeds in 1847 and studied in Berlin and then in Düsseldorf under the military painter Emil Hünten, which shaped his interest in soldiers and battles. His Morning of the Battle of Waterloo of 1876 made his name. He became a full member of the Royal Academy in 1896 and Keeper of the Academy in 1898. He also painted a mural at the Royal Exchange in London.

Cromwell after the Battle of Marston Moor and On the Evening of the Battle of Waterloo show his taste for aftermath rather than action. He died at Burlington House in London in 1911.