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Sir Edwin Landseer, RA

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Sir Edwin Landseer, RA Sir Edwin Landseer, R.A. (1802 – 1873): a group of drawings formerly in the collection of the artist, Frederick Richard Lee, R.A. and a self portrait of the artist. The group of previously unrecorded drawings and a letter were all, apart from the self- portrait, once in the collection of the artist, Frederick Richard Lee, R.A. (1798-1879). The self-portrait executed in 1829, when the artist was aged just 27, is being offered to the market for the first time in nearly fifty years. Landseer and Lee were friends and occasional collaborators for much of their adult life, sharing the same interests, friends, and patrons. The two men worked together on at least half a dozen collaborative works, with Lee producing the landscapes and Landseer the animals and figures; two of these, The Cover and Bringing in a Stag, are in the Tate Gallery, London. Both artists were keen sportsmen, particularly fishing and shooting and as a result were often at the same country houses at the same time. They had several patrons in common, in particular, William Wells and the Duke of Bedford, amongst others. Lee was highly regarded in his lifetime, establishing a hugely successful career as a landscape painter. He enrolled as a student at the Royal Academy schools in 1818, was elected A.R.A. in 1834 and R.A. four years later. He exhibited regularly at the Royal Academy and the British Institution, until he retired from the Royal Academy in 1871, preferring to spend his last few years indulging his great passion, sailing. His success as an artist, enabled him to buy a yacht, which he sailed as far as the West Indies, South Africa, and Mauritius and even to Australia and Tasmania at the age of 74. The peak of Lee’s career lasted from the early 1830s to the end of the 1850s and his landscapes found favour with both wealthy industrialists and the aristocracy. Such was his popularity that Constable, with whom he was frequently compared, was widely reported as being jealous of the younger man’s abilities. William Wells (1768–1847), shipbuilder, art collector, patron, trustee of the National Gallery, director of the British Institution and friend to Landseer and Lee, apparently remarked once, when Constable showed him some his sketches, that they ‘might be of service to Lee’ (Campbell Lennie, Landseer, The Victorian Paragon, 1976, p. 78). Landseer wasn’t the only artist to benefit from Lee’s ability, Thomas Sidney Cooper (1803– 1902) also collaborated with him, also producing the animals, whilst Lee undertook the landscapes. So well-known were these collaborations, that on Lee’s death, his obituary in The Athenaeum, discussed his working with Cooper and Landseer. Campbell Lennie notes that the two artists eventually fell out, apparently over ‘accusations of cheating at a game of billiards; the two men never spoke to each other again’ (Campbell Lennie, ibid, p. 201). Whose fault the argument was is unclear, but Landseer, especially later in life, was highly sensitive, imagining slights and picking arguments. We are grateful to Richard Ormond for his help in cataloguing the present collection. Landseer the draughtsman As was remarked shortly after the artist’s death, ‘the masterliness of Landseer’s touch can be seen in his earliest drawings; and in none of his works is it more keenly discernible than in his pen and ink sketches. As we look at some of these, we are tempted to believe that, of all the instruments that can be used by the artist, there is none so wonderful as the pen. In his most mature time, with all the appliances of colour, Landseer never set before us deer and dogs more living that those which, with a few touches of the pen upon white paper, he shows us in these sketches’. (British Quarterly Review, ‘Landseer – Works of the late Sir Edwin Landseer, R.A.’ October 1874, pp. 514-535. Article VIII) Landseer found artistic and social success early in his career. His easy manner, good looks and enjoyment of dancing, music and country sports enabled him to move in the highest social circles. The Dukes of Northumberland, Bedford, Gordon, Atholl and Beaufort, amongst others, all numbered amongst his friends and patrons. In 1836, Landseer was commissioned to paint, Dash, Princess Victoria’s favourite dog, as a birthday present for the future queen. This was the beginning of a close relationship between the artist and the Royal Family. He taught Queen Victoria to sketch and his opinion was regularly sought on artistic matters, such as the proposed museums at South Kensington. His closeness to the Royal Family led to him depicting the family, not in the more usual grand, formal manner, but in more relaxed, intimate settings. Furthermore, it was partly due to Landseer, that the Royal Family began to spend time in Scotland and his paintings of them in Highland settings, helped to visually represent the abiding love the Queen and Prince Albert developed for Scotland. Apart from the more established artistic training, initially in the studio of Benjamin Robert Haydon and then at the Royal Academy Schools, Landseer also spent time at Sir Charles Bell’s celebrated anatomy classes and recording the wild and exotic animals in London’s menageries; the Exeter Exchange and the Tower of London. He was inspired by the work of George Stubbs (purchasing Stubbs’s series of anatomical drawings of horses in about 1817) and like him, spent time studying animal anatomy, where possible even dissecting and examining their skeletons. Indeed, his interest was so well known that when one of the lions at the Exeter Exchange died, the owner, Mr Cross sent it to Landseer, who dissected the animal, had the skin stuffed and the skeleton articulated. This careful and detailed study helped Landseer to establish himself as one of the leading animal painters of the period and to influence numerous other artists both in Britain and further afield, including French artists, Gustave Courbet (1819–1877) and Rosa Bonheur (1822–1899). Landseer sketched constantly, throughout his career, in order to explore compositions, deepen his understanding of a subject or produce an aide memoire, as well as a form of relaxation or entertainment. The spontaneity and emotional response so evident in his drawings has helped cement Landseer’s reputation as one of the most skilled draughtsmen of the 19th Century. His ability to work rapidly and incisively was widely admired and his drawings were eagerly sought by his contemporaries. Such was his ability that he could apparently draw as well with either hand, or, as he entertained his fellow house guests, with both hands at the same time. Landseer’s breadth of style and his ability to capture with just a ‘few lines, dots, jags and scratches’ (British Quarterly Review, op.cit, p. 516) is clearly reflected in the current group of drawings. Landseer’s figure drawings were often gently humorous. They were, by and large, of his friends and acquaintances, people he knew and respected, and his intention was to capture the essence of their character, rather than merely record a visual likeness. There were usually intended to light-heartedly illustrate their quirks or weaknesses and encourage amusement, to be laughed with, not at. They were never in the spirit of the more direct works of the satirical artists like George Cruikshank (1792–1878) and James Gilray (1756–1815), or the cartoonists of the journals that spring up during the 19th Century. Landseer’s lively and spontaneous sketches and studies belie the difficulty that the artist would sometimes find with his portraits in oil. As Richard Ormond points out, ‘his career is littered with uncompleted portraits and disgruntled patrons, as he struggled to achieve convincing likenesses’. (Richard Ormond, Edwin Landseer, the Private Drawings, 2009, p. 180). It seems that the medium of pen and ink, gave Landseer the freedom to draw quickly and by distilling his style and paring it back to the essentials, he did not have to think too hard about his pen portraits. Landseer applied an equally dynamic style of penmanship to his animal studies. His deep understanding of the mechanics of animal and bird forms, combined with his rapid, method of working gave a liveliness and sense of realism and individuality that rivalled his portraits of people. The decade from which this group of drawings dates, is widely regarded as the artist’s golden period. As Richard Ormond stated, Landseer’s ‘reputation as the foremost animal painter of the day…was matched by social celebrity and financial success’. (Richard Ormond, Edwin Landseer, The Private Drawings, 2009, p. 12). Landseer, despite his success, struggled with depression throughout much of his life, and ultimately in his final year, was declared insane. Alcohol and drug abuse compounded the problem. He was hypersensitive to criticism, quick to imagine slights and picked fights with old friends. His first breakdown was in 1840, possibly brought on by the death of his mother, as well as the Duchess of Bedford’s refusal to marry him and the murder of his friend Lord William Russell. Luckily many of his friends remained loyal, helping him through his bouts of depression and he was also able to continue to excel as an artist throughout his life. Cat no 1. Stags by a Fallen Tree With inscription lower centre in the hand of F. R. Lee: Sir E Landseer RA Pen and brown ink on wove Whatman paper dated 1835 11.3 by 18.1 cm., 4 ¼ by 7 in. Although a keen sportsman, Landseer would apparently spend as much time sketching wildlife, especially deer and birds.
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