John Wootton (c.1686– 13 November 1764)Deuchar, S. (2003). "Wootton, John". Grove Art Online. was an English painter of sporting subjects, battle scenes and landscapes, and illustrator.

Life

Born in

Snitterfield Snitterfield is a village and civil parish in the Stratford on Avon district of Warwickshire, England, less than to the north of the A46 road, from Stratford upon Avon, from Warwick and from Coventry. The population of the civil parish at ...

Warwickshire Warwickshire (; abbreviated Warks) is a county in the West Midlands region of England. The county town is Warwick, and the largest town is Nuneaton. The county is famous for being the birthplace of William Shakespeare at Stratford-upon-Avo ...

(near

Stratford-upon-Avon Stratford-upon-Avon (), commonly known as just Stratford, is a market town and civil parish in the Stratford-on-Avon district, in the county of Warwickshire, in the West Midlands region of England. It is situated on the River Avon, north-we ...

), he is best remembered as a pioneer in the painting of sporting subjects – together with

Peter Tillemans Peter Tillemans ( 1684 – 5 December 1734)Noakes, Aubrey, ''Sportsmen in a Landscape'' (Ayer Publishing, 1971, )pp. 47–56: ''Peter Tillemans and Early Newmarket''at books.google.com, accessed 7 February 2009. ONDB writes: "In 1733 Tillemans re ...

and James Seymour – and was considered the finest practitioner of the genre in his day. As such, his paintings were very fashionable and were sought after by those among the highest strata of the British society. These included figures such as

George II of Great Britain , house = Hanover , religion = Protestant , father = George I of Great Britain , mother = Sophia Dorothea of Celle , birth_date = 30 October / 9 November 1683 , birth_place = Herrenhausen Palace,Cannon. or Leine ...

Frederick, Prince of Wales Frederick, Prince of Wales, (Frederick Louis, ; 31 January 170731 March 1751), was the eldest son and heir apparent of King George II of Great Britain. He grew estranged from his parents, King George and Queen Caroline. Frederick was the fa ...

, and the Duke of Marlborough. It is likely that he received artistic training from

Jan Wyck Jan Wyck (also Jan Wiyck or Jan Wick) (29 October 1645 – 17 May 1702) was a Dutch baroque painter, best known for his works on military subjects. There are still over 150 of his works known to be in existence. In an era when French artists d ...

before 1700. Wootton may have begun life as a page to the family of the

Dukes of Beaufort Duke of Beaufort (), a title in the Peerage of England, was created by Charles II in 1682 for Henry Somerset, 3rd Marquess of Worcester, a descendant of Charles Somerset, 1st Earl of Worcester, legitimised son of Henry Beaufort, 3rd Duke of Som ...

. His earliest surviving dated work is the equine portrait ''Bonny Black'' (1711). He remained active until his death in 1764, based in the capital of English horse racing at Newmarket, and producing large numbers of portraits of horses and also conversation pieces with a

hunting Hunting is the human practice of seeking, pursuing, capturing, or killing wildlife or feral animals. The most common reasons for humans to hunt are to harvest food (i.e. meat) and useful animal products ( fur/ hide, bone/tusks, horn/antler, ...

or riding setting. He acquired a classicising landscape style based on that of

Gaspard Dughet Gaspard Dughet (15 June 1615 – 25 May 1675), also known as Gaspard Poussin, was a French painter born in Rome. Life Dughet was born in Rome, the son of a French pastry-cook and his Italian wife. He has always generally been considered as a Fr ...

, which he used in some pure

landscape painting Landscape painting, also known as landscape art, is the depiction of natural scenery such as mountains, valleys, trees, rivers, and forests, especially where the main subject is a wide view—with its elements arranged into a coherent compo ...

s, as well as views of country houses and equine subjects. This introduced an alternative to the various Dutch and Flemish artists who had previously set the prevailing landscape style in Britain, and through intermediary artists such as George Lambert, the first British painter to base a career on landscape subjects, was to greatly influence other British artists such as

Gainsborough Gainsborough or Gainsboro may refer to: Places * Gainsborough, Ipswich, Suffolk, England ** Gainsborough Ward, Ipswich * Gainsborough, Lincolnshire, a town in England ** Gainsborough (UK Parliament constituency) * Gainsborough, New South Wales, ...

.Waterhouse, 155–156 He is now somewhat eclipsed in the field of animal paintings by the later

George Stubbs George Stubbs (25 August 1724 – 10 July 1806) was an English painter, best known for his paintings of horses. Self-trained, Stubbs learnt his skills independently from other great artists of the 18th century such as Joshua Reynolds, Reynold ...

(1724–1806), who is considered technically superior. John Wootton died 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 ...

on 13 November 1764. Examples of his animal painting can be found in the

Tate Gallery Tate is an institution that houses, in a network of four art galleries, the United Kingdom's national collection of British art, and international modern and contemporary art. It is not a government institution, but its main sponsor is the U ...

, the

Virginia Museum of Fine Arts The Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, or VMFA, is an art museum in Richmond, Virginia, United States, which opened in 1936. The museum is owned and operated by the Commonwealth of Virginia. Private donations, endowments, and funds are used for the s ...

, Richmond, the

Yale Center for British Art Yale University is a private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and among the most prestigious in the worl ...

, in the Elizabethan Great Hall at

Longleat Longleat is an English stately home and the seat of the Marquess of Bath, Marquesses of Bath. A leading and early example of the Elizabethan era, Elizabethan prodigy house, it is adjacent to the village of Horningsham and near the towns of War ...

and in The Portland Collection at the Harley Gallery and Foundation.

Notes

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External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Wootton, John 1682 births 1764 deaths 17th-century English painters English male painters 18th-century English painters 18th-century English male artists English illustrators Equine artists Landscape artists British war artists People from Warwickshire (before 1974)

Life

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Further reading

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