Arthur Wardle (1864–1949) was a British painter. The Empire Needs Men WWI

Born in

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

, aged just sixteen Wardle had a piece displayed at the Royal Academy. His first exhibit was a study of cattle by the

River Thames The River Thames ( ), known alternatively in parts as the River Isis, is a river that flows through southern England including London. At , it is the longest river entirely in England and the second-longest in the United Kingdom, after the R ...

, leading to a lifelong interest in painting animals. In 1880 Wardle lived in

Oakley Square Oakley Square is a crescent-shaped garden square in Somers Town in Central London, close to Mornington Crescent and Camden Town. It is located in the London Borough of Camden and runs roughly northeastwards from Eversholt Street meeting wi ...

, London Borough of Camden, Camden, but artistic success enabled him to move to the more upmarket 34 Alma Square in St John's Wood by 1892. Wardle was prolific; until 1936 he exhibited more than 100 works at the Royal Academy, as well as the Royal Society of British Artists, Society of British Artists at Suffolk Street Gallery, Suffolk Street. He painted a variety of animal subjects with equal skill but his work may be divided into two categories, domestic and exotic; animals from overseas including leopards, polar bears and tigers such as ''The Deer-Stealer'' (1915) were painted from sketches that he made at London Zoo. He is considered equally proficient in oils, watercolours and pastels and was elected to the The Pastel Society, Pastel Society in 1911 and became a member of the Royal Institute of Painters in Water Colours in 1922. In 1931 he held his first one-man exhibition at the Fine Art Society and in 1935 the Vicar's Gallery put on an exhibition of his work. He also exhibited in Paris. By 1936 Wardle had moved to West London. His career was highly successful and his works continue to be sought after and widely reproduced on postcards, calendars and boxes of chocolates. He remains one of the widely known dog painters of the 19th and 20th centuries, and he is particularly known for his paintings of terriers. Wardle painted what is probably the best known painting of the fox terrier in its modern form, ''The Totteridge XI'' (1897).The Totteridge XI by Arthur Wardle at AKC Gallery
/ref> The painting was commissioned by famed smooth fox terrier breeder Francis Redmond; Wardle painted a number of Redmond's dogs. The original is in the gallery of The Kennel Club in London. Arthur Wardle died on 16 July 1949.

References

External links

Biography at Burlington PaintingsArthur Wardle at the Art Renewal Center (sample works)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wardle, Arthur 1864 births 1949 deaths Dog artists 19th-century English painters English male painters 20th-century English painters Painters from London 19th-century English male artists Members of the Royal Institute of Painters in Water Colours 20th-century English male artists