Born in Victorian England in 1864, Arthur Wardle had a great fascination with the animal kingdom. Unlike his contemporaries, who most often painted the familiar wild and domestic creatures around them, grouse, fox, deer, dogs, horses... Wardle revelled in capturing the essence of more exotic beasts.
Though his dog pastels and paintings have been greatly admired for decades, the same can be said of his atmospheric depictions of tigers, polar bears, elephants...
Though Wardle did not have the benefit of much formal training, still his natural talent was immense and led Alfred Lys Baldry, a foremost art critic of his day to comment, 'He has a brilliant appreciation of the genius of pastel ... He uses it with delightful dexterity'.
His ability to paint wild animals in their natural setting, particularly large cats, broght him the following page in an Art Review in the New York Times dated March 11, 1899:
'Careful study before the cages of the London "zoo" enabled the artist to constantly improve his work, until now it would seem to have reached almost perfection,'
Wardle's career as an animal and sporting artist started with his first exhibit at the Royal Academy in 1880 which was titled, 'Study of Cattle on the Banks of the Thames'. From then, when he was still only sixteen, until 1938 at the age of 74, his watercolours, oils and pastels were frequently shown at the Royal Academy. He also held a one man show at the Fine Art Society in 1931 and in 1935 the Vicar's Gallery held an exhibition of his work.
Though Wardle was known for painting exotic creatures and great mythological scenes, it is his work as a dog painter that interests us here today. Bearing in mind that in Victorian England dogs were suddenly allowed to be more than a hunters' companions. There was a surge of interest in dog breeds and dog showing but unlike today, there was no sophisticated photographic equipment available to instantly capture a restless pup or hound.
Artists able to accurately portray the conformation, expression and intensity of different breeds were greatly admired. Wardle certainly painted many different dog breeds from airdale terriers to newfoundlands. One odd couple that appear several times is a rough collie and a jack russel, often accompanied by a pretty young girl.
The painting, Totteridge XI shown above which was painted for Francis Redmond, is acknowledged to be the classic depiction of the fox terrier and in fact it includes Ch. Donna Fortuna, considered at the time to be the finest ever example of the breed. In the painting Ch Donna Fortuna can be seen second from the left in the first row.
Dog lovers today are well served with Arthur Wardle collectibles. He was commissioned to produce a number of breed picture cards by cigarette companies and his illustrations also adorned biscuit tins, posters and stationary. His work was widely reproduced and therefore quite easy to find.
Look for Arthur Wardle collectibles.