Sir Edwin Landseer

Sir Edwin Landseer was Victorian Britain’s favourite animal painter. His dogs, horses and stags are painted with great skill and often with human feelings, which is why his pictures could be both touching and funny.

Born in London, he was a prodigy who exhibited at the Royal Academy at thirteen and became a full Academician at 29. Queen Victoria and Prince Albert commissioned many pictures from him, of their pets, their children and life in the Highlands. His most famous painting is The Monarch of the Glen (1851), and he also designed the four bronze lions at the base of Nelson’s Column in Trafalgar Square. His works hang in Tate Britain, the Victoria and Albert Museum and the Wallace Collection.

A Jack in Office, a well fed dog guarding a cart while hungry strays look on, shows his humour. A Newfoundland Dog shows his skill with fur and character.