(b Liverpool, 11 May 1815; d Farnborough, Hants, 20 April
1885). English painter. He was the son of an artisan and in 1835 entered
the Liverpool Academy Schools, where he later became president
(1845-6). One of his earliest and largest dated works is the Waterloo Coursing Meeting
(1.4*2.4 m, 1840; Liverpool, Walker A.G.). This canvas demonstrates his
considerable skill as a portrait painter and creates a detailed record
of a major sporting event of the period which was attended by many
members of the local aristocracy, some of whom, notably the 3rd Earl of
Sefton, were his patrons. It was engraved and published in 1843, and
other works were similarly popularized. Shooting Party in the Highlands
(1840; Liverpool, Walker A.G.) was the first of 149 works exhibited at
the Royal Academy. It shows huntsmen with their horses and dogs resting
after a good day's sport, a theme that Ansdell often depicted. He also
portrayed other rural scenes such as gamekeepers or shepherds with
domestic and wild animals, often in historical settings. All are painted
with precision and sensitivity and without sentimentality. Although
based in London from 1847 until 1884, Ansdell owned houses in Lancashire
and Scotland and found inspiration in northern landscape. He travelled
to Spain with the painter John Phillip in 1856 and alone in 1857 and
produced several works of Spanish inspiration, for example Feeding Goats in the Alhambra
(Preston, Harris Mus. & A.G.). He also collaborated with William
Powell Frith and Thomas Creswick in rural genre scenes. Ansdell was
commercially successful and was elected ARA in 1861 and RA in 1870. His
animal subjects often rival those of Landseer, both in execution and
composition, and place him in the forefront of Victorian sporting art.
The contents of Ansdell's studio were sold at Christie's, London, 19
March 1886.Читать весь материал
