Landseer and His Engravings

Sir Edwin Landseer RA (1802-1873) was a notable figure in 19th-Century British art, and his popularity in Victorian Britain was considerable. His works can be found in Tate Britain, the Victoria and Albert Museum, and other great institutions.

He was in no small part responsible for the popularity of canine portraiture through his 1831 Newfoundland painting, “The Distinguished Member of the Humane Society”; Princess (later Queen) Victoria’s Toy Spaniel “Dash,” painted in 1836, and Prince Albert’s Greyhound “Eos,” painted in 1841. He also played a major role in the popularity of anything Scottish through his Highland scenes and his painting of the red deer stag, “Monarch of the Glen,” painted in 1851. It is one of the most iconic animal paintings of the 19th Century and was one from a series to be hung in the Palace of Westminster.

Landseer was something of a child prodigy whose artistic talents were recognized early on. At the age of just 13 he exhibited two works at the Royal Academy, “Portrait of a Mule” and “Heads of a Pointer Bitch and Puppy.” Both pictures were owned by W.H. Simpson, a patron and friend of the Landseer family who owned a farm in Essex. Landseer soon gathered around him a list of wealthy and titled patrons, and with the Queen and Prince Albert as patrons his future was secured.

In his late 30s Landseer suffered what is now believed to be a substantial nervous breakdown, and for the rest of his life was troubled by recurring bouts of melancholy and depression. In the last few years of his life, Landseer’s mental stability was problematic, and the year before he died, at the request of his family, he was declared insane.

Edwin Landseer was from an artistic family. His grandfather was a jeweller who had settled in London, and his father John Landseer was an accomplished engraver. Edwin studied at the Royal Academy Schools and became a prolific painter. He was not a great fan of engraving, considering it depreciated art. Nevertheless, engravings introduced great art to the masses, and Landseer was happy to sell the copyright for most of his pictures for the purpose of them being engraved; this gave him a very comfortable living.

In 1874, the year following Landseer’s death, the writer F.G. Stephens published a list of some of Landseer’s most popular works that were published as engravings, and I feature a few from that list.

“The Chief’s Return from Deer Stalking” (1827) is not only the first important Highland picture by Landseer, but the first of his contributions to the Royal Academy as an Associate. It is considered one of the best of his Highland compositions. Across the backs of the two ponies are two magnificently antlered stags, a young chief with his old weather-worn companion are by the head of one of the ponies. They go slowly down the hill; two Deerhounds coupled keep pace with them. The whole scene is played out against the backdrop of a threatening late-afternoon sky.

“High Life” and “Low Life” (above left and right, respectively) were both exhibited at the British Institution in 1831. The dog in “High Life” sits staring contemplatively beside an empty chair in his master’s study. The dog is similar to Sir Walter Scott’s Deerhound “Maida,” and the study similar to that at Abbotsford, Scott’s home on the Scottish Border that Landseer visited. In contrast the dog in “Low Life” is very much a butcher’s dog; fat and satisfied, he rests against the jamb of the door with the butcher’s block behind.

The saying “Every picture tells a story” is certainly true with “A Jack in Office” (1833). An itinerant dealer in dog meat has left his barrow in an alley and under the guardianship of his satisfied mongrel, while he transacts a little business, probably across the bar of the nearest tavern. With a half-twinkle in his eye and with calmness and disdain, “Jack” sits upon the top of the barrow, as on a throne, where he receives the courtier-like attentions of his hungry, half-starved and less fortunate fellow creatures.

“The Highland Shepherd’s Chief Mourner” (1837) represents the end of a long life among the valleys in the Highlands. His trusty companion of latter years, with an expression of almost human woe, sits with his head on the coffin, over which is draped his shepherd’s cloak. The thoughtful and pious life of the shepherd is hinted at by a Bible, which lies upon a stool to the side of the picture.

Landseer was a master at narrative in canine art, and the story behind “Suspense” – painted in 1834, and regarded by many as one of Landseer’s best canine paintings – has had many interpretations. The most popular one is that the noble Bloodhound is watching at the closed door, shut out from his master, the wounded knight. The steel gloves removed from the knight, the torn eagle plume and the drops of blood along the floor indicate that some dreadful act has befallen the knight.

“Dignity and Impudence” was first exhibited at the British Institution in 1839 with the title “Dogs.” The dogs were owned by the Duke of Grafton; the Bloodhound’s name was “Grafton,” but that of the impish-looking terrier is not known. Landseer faithfully captures the temperament of both breeds: The Bloodhound calmly watches for anyone approaching, while the terrier is ready to accept any challenge.

The young girl with the Toy Spaniel – “Beauty’s Bath” – has at times been referenced as a young Queen Victoria with “Dash.” Exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1839 the girl is seven-year-old Eliza Peel with “Fido” or “Fidelle.” Eliza was the daughter of British Prime Minister Sir Robert Peel Bt., and she served as Lady of the Bedchamber to H.M. Queen Alexandra when Princess of Wales.