European Art & Old Masters: 500 Years

Provenance: Private Collection, Pennsylvania.

NOTE:

John Frederick Herring, Senior was one of the leading British sporting art painters in the first half of the nineteenth century. Although he began sketching animals as a child, his artistic career really began by painting signs and coaches. In his spare time, he painted portraits of horses to decorate inn parlors, and his talent was eventually recognized by wealthy patrons who commissioned him to paint their hunters and racehorses, among them the Duke of Orleans (1810-1842), son of French King Louis Philippe (1773-1850).

Throughout his career, Herring painted most of the winners from important races including the Epsom Derby, St. Leger and the Oaks. In 1845, he was appointed Animal Painter to H.R.H. the Duchess of Kent (1786-1861), Queen Victoria's mother, and later received many commissions from the Queen herself, which secured his position as one of the most successful and prolific artists of his century.

As a consequence of his rapidly improving fortune, John Frederick Herring decided to move from London to Kent, taking up the lease on Meopham Park, near Tonbridge. There, he slowly shifted his style from racing subjects to more domestic, sentimental country scenes, such as the present small-scaled vignettes, which depict the farmyard animals Herring encountered every day. This last body of works proved immensely popular and financially remunerative for the artist, who kept exploring the theme until his death in 1865.