Stephens says: "It is really one of the finest drawings of a dog that
have ever been produced. We do not think that even the artist at any
time surpassed its noble workmanship. The head, though expansive and
domical in its shape, is small in proportion to that of a Newfoundland
dog; the brow is broad and round; the eyes, according to the standard
commonly assumed for large dogs, are far from being large, and are very
steadfast in their look, without fierceness; the ears are pendulous,
placed near to the head, and fleshy in substance." A live dog, admitted
into the room with this picture, became greatly excited.
When Edwin was thirteen, in 1815, he exhibited some pictures at the
Royal Academy; a mule, and a dog with a puppy. The following year he
became a student at the Royal Academy. He was a bright, manly boy, with
light, curly hair, gentle and graceful in manner, and diligent in his
work. Fuseli, the keeper of the Academy, was much pleased with him, and,
looking around the room upon the students, would say, "Where is my
little dog boy?" This was in allusion to the picture of Edwin's favorite
dog, Brutus, lying at full length of his chain, near a red earthenware
dish. The picture, though very small, was sold in 1861 for seventy
guineas.
In 1818, "Fighting Dogs Getting Wind" was exhibited at Spring Gardens,
and caused a great sensation. The _Examiner_ said, in a review of the
works of the Society of Painters in Oil and Water-Colors, "Landseer's
may be called the great style of animal painting, as far as it relates
to the execution and color, and the natural, as far as it concerns their
portraiture. Did we see only the dog's collar, we should know that it
was produced by no common hand, so good is it, and palpably true. But
the gasping and cavernous and redly stained mouths, the flaming eyes,
the prostrate dog, and his antagonist standing exultingly over him; the
inveterate rage that superior strength inflames but cannot subdue, with
the broad and bright relief of the objects, give a wonder-producing
vitality to the canvas."
Landseer also exhibited this year the "White Horse in a Stable." It
disappeared from the studio, and twenty-four years later, in 1842, it
was discovered in a hayloft, where it had been hidden by a dishonest
servant. It was sent to Honorable H. Pierrepont, for whom it was
painted, with a letter from Landseer, saying that he had not retouched
the picture, "thinking it better when my early style was unmingled with
that of my old age."
In 1819, "The Cat Disturbed" was exhibited, afterwards engraved with the
title of "The Intruder." It represents a cat chased to the upper part of
a stable by a dog, into whose place she had ventured. Dr. Waagen said,
"This picture exhibits a power of coloring and a solidity of execution
recalling such masters as Snyders and Fyt."
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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