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A Very Rare Edwin Douglas print
Measures 15" x 19"
Edwin James Douglas (14 Jul 1848, Edinburgh, Scotland - Dec 1914, Thakenham, Sussex) was an Animal and Portrait Painter.
Edwin Douglas flourished between 1869 and 1892. Born in Edinburgh, he was the son of James Douglas, a noted portrait painter, and exhibited his first work at the Royal Scottish Academy at the age of only 17.
Edwin Douglas’s paintings were mainly of a sporting nature and he attracted many notable patrons, including Sir Charles Tennant and Queen Victoria. Queen Victoria purchased a picture of setters, painted by Douglas, as a birthday present for King Edward VII.
Edwin James Douglas painted hunting scenes, dogs and genre. His speciality was Jersey cows; Douglas kept Jersey cows at his home.
He first exhibited at the very young age of 17 at The Royal Scottish Academy. Edwin Douglas first lived in Edinburgh, his address in 1869 was 24 Grange-Loan, Edinburgh. In 1875 he moved south to Guildford then in 1889 to Worthing, in 1890, he built the family home in Findon, Sussex.
Douglas started painting a series of paintings with Jersey cows titled The Channel Island Series in 1878. An article on Edwin Douglas in the Art Journal of 1885 by Walter Armstrong describes the Channel Island Series of four paintings (1) as 'most characteristic', as follows:~ The first painting of this series is titled "Jersey" showing a milk maid between two tiny Jersey cows. The second painting of the series titled "Alderney" showing a girl carrying cabbages walking by a Jersey cow. The third painting, titled "Sark" describes the above offered painting, which is very probably from this series. The fourth painting titled, "Jersey Family" (See album, above) shows Jersey cows being milked and another tethered. All these paintings have been engraved.
Edwin Douglas patrons included; Queen Victoria, and Edward - Prince of Wales, for whom he painted their favourite horses and dogs. Douglas exhibited at: The Royal Academy from 1869 to 1900, a total of 43 paintings, he also exhibited at The Manchester City Art Gallery, The Walker Art Gallery - Liverpool, Royal Scottish Academy and at many other locations. Paintings by Douglas are held at: The Tate Gallery - London and also by; Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II. Artist Biography:
An admirer and follower of Queen Victoria’s best loved artist Sir Edwin Henry Landseer (1802-1873), Edwin Douglas lived in Edinburgh and studied at the Royal Scottish Academy Schools. He first exhibited at the Royal Scottish Academy itself in 1865, subjects in his early years being Scottish genre and historical scenes.
In 1871 as with so many of his compatriots, Douglas moved to London in search of patronage and commissions, having exhibited firstly at the Royal Academy in 1869. He lived in Bedford Gardens subsequently moving to Dorking in 1873 and to the village of Shere near Guildford in 1875.
Douglas continued to paint Scottish subjects throughout his life, but interspersed with portraits and genre. However, it was as a painter of animals and most particularly dogs, for which he was so widely known and admired. It is in his portrayal of dogs that Douglas excelled. As with Landseer, his works can be highly sentimental and his dogs imbued with an anthropomorphic quality.
Douglas was a highly successful artist whose animal paintings, like those of Landseer, struck a chord with Victorian collectors. He exhibited at the Royal Academy 1869-1900, forty one works in total, at the Royal Scottish Academy and other venues in London and the provinces.
Having moved to Findon in Sussex in 1891, Douglas died in 1914.
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