Pintando perros (XXII)

Los perros de / The Dogs of Briton Rivière

"El largo sueño / The Long Sleep", óleo sobre lienzo / oil on canvas, 91,5 x 71 cm., 1868.

Colección Privada / Private Collection

Briton Rivière fue un pintor nacido en Londres en 1840, descendiente de Hugonotes.

Su padre, William Rivière  (1806 - 1876), fue durante algunos años maestro de dibujo en el Cheltenham College, y más tarde profesor de arte en la Universidad de Oxford. Él fue educado en el Cheltenham College y en Oxford, donde se graduó en 1867. Para su entrenamiento artístico se debe casi enteramente a su padre, y desde edad muy temprana se hizo un lugar entre los artistas de su tiempo. Su tío paterno, Henry Parsons Rivière (1811 - 1888) fue también un destacado acuarelista.

"Todo lo que quedó de los que regresaban a casa / All that was Left of the Homeward Bound"

Acuarela / watercolor, 70 x 49,5 cm., 1873. Colección Privada / Private Collection

"Endymion", óleo sobre lienzo / oil on canvas, 142,24 x 102,87 cm., c.1880. 

Brighton and Hove Museums and Art Galleries

Sus primeras pinturas aparecen en la British Institution y en 1857 expuso tres trabajos en la Royal Academy, pero no fue hasta 1863 que se convirtió en contribuyente regular para las exposiciones de la Academia. Ese año estuvo representado por "The eve of the Spanish Armada" y en 1864 por un "Romeo y Julieta". Sin embargo temas de este tipo no le atrayeron durante mucho tiempo, por lo cual en 1865 comenzó, con una pintura de un sabueso durmiendo, una serie con temas animales que más tarde le ocuparían casi en exclusiva por el resto de su vida. 

"Simpatía / Sympathy", óleo sobre lienzo / oil on canvas, 45,1 x 37,5 cm., c.1878.

Tate Gallery (Londres, Reino Unido / London, UK)

Rivière alcanzó inmensa popularidad entre el público victoriano por sus anecdóticas y a veces graciosas imágenes de animales. "Sympathy", que muestra a una niñita entristecida, sentada en unas escaleras mientras es reconfortada por su perro, están entre las más populares de su producción. La primera versión se exhibió en la Royal Academy en 1878, pero la obra exhibida aquí es un estudio que Rivière hizo para una segunda versión.

Traducido de la ficha de la obra en el sitio web de la Tate Gallery. In english here.

"Requiescat", óleo sobre lienzo / oil on canvas, 1888. Colección Privada / Private Collection

En una larga entrevista publicada en el "Chumus Boys Annual (No. 256, Vol. V, 4 August 1897), titulada "Cómo pinto animales", Rivière explicaba algunas de sus prácticas de pintura tanto de animales domésticos como salvajes. "Siempre he sido un gran amante de los perros, pero trabajé tanto sobre ellos que me he cansado. Sin embargo, nunca se puede pintar un perro si no estás encariñado con él. Nunca trabajo con un perro sin la ayuda de un hombre que conozca bien a los animales... Los collies, creo, son los perros más incansables... los sabuesos son también bastante inquietos, así como los foxterrier... La única forma de pintar animales es ir acumulando gradualmente una gran cantidad de estudios y un gran conocimiento de los animales, antes de poder representarlos en una pintura... Yo pinto a partir de animales muertos y también vivos. He tenido el cuerpo de una leona en mi estudio... He realizado un gran volumen de trabajo en las salas de disección en los Jardines Zoológicos de tanto en tanto."

Información traducida de la versión inglesa de su ficha en Wiki. Más perros de Briton en próximos posts.

"Tick - Tack". Russell-Cotes Art Gallery & Museum

Me encantan los perros pintados por Breton Rivière, tanto por la calidad de su representación como por sus actitudes y relación con el resto de personajes de las pinturas. De hecho es uno de los pintores realistas que más me gustan en esto de representar canes y leones en lienzo. 

Los perros de Riviére son generalmente amables y fieles compañeros de humanos muchas veces agobiados por circunstancias difíciles ("The Long Sleep", "Fidelity", "His Only Friend", "Companions in Misfortune", "Requiescat", "Jilt"), o simpáticos compañeros de juegos ("Play Fellows", "Naughty Boy", "Giants at Play").

"Tiempos de Guerra / War Time", óleo sobre lienzo / oil on canvas, 110,5 x 126 cm., 1874. 

"Over valley and wold

Wherever I turn my head

There's a mildew and a mould,

The sun's going out over head,

And I'm very old,

And Tommy's dead."

Sydney Thompson Dobell, "Tommy's Dead"

(Poema completo al final del post. Full poem at the end of the post)

"Tiempos de Guerra / War Time" (detalle / detail)

"Irritación / Aggravation", óleo sobre lienzo / oil on canvas, 93,4 x 63,2 cm., 1896

Briton Rivière (14 August 1840 – 20 April 1920) was an artist born in London, England, of Huguenot descent.

His father, William Rivière (1806 - 1876), was for some years drawing-master at Cheltenham College, and afterwards an art teacher at Oxford University. He was educated at Cheltenham College and at Oxford, where he took his degree in 1867. For his art training he was indebted almost entirely to his father, and early in life made for himself a place of importance among the artists of his time. His paternal uncle Henry Parsons Rivière (1811 - 1888) was also a noted watercolourist.

"Compañeros de juegos / Play Fellows", óleo sobre lienzo / oil on canvas, 1900.

National Museums (Liverpool, Reino Unido / UK)

In a lengthy interview published in Chums Boys Annual (No. 256, Vol. V, 4 August 1897) entitled "How I paint animals", Rivière explained some of the practicalities of painting both tame and wild animals: "I have always been a great lover of dogs but I have worked at them so much that I've grown tired of having them about me. However, you can never paint a dog unless you are fond of it. I never work from a dog without the assistance of a man who is well acquainted with animals..... Collies, I think, are the most restless dogs....greyhounds are also very restless, and so are fox-terriers..... The only way to paint wild animals is to gradually accumulate a large number of studies and a great knowledge of the animal itself, before you can paint its picture...... I paint from dead animals as well as from live ones. I have had the body of a fine lioness in my studio..... I have done a great deal of work in the dissecting rooms at the Zoological Gardens from time to time."

"Niño travieso o La Educación Obligatoria / Naughty Boy or Compulsory Education", 1909

"Fidelidad / Fidelity", 1869. National Museums (Liverpool, Reino Unido / UK)

I love the dogs painted by Briton Rivière, not only for the great quality of depiction but also its attitudes and relationships with the other characters in the paintings.

In fact, is one of the realists painters that I really like the way he depicts dogs and lions in canvas.

Rivière's dogs are usually gentle and faithful companions of humans, sometimes overwhelmed by difficult circumstances ("The Long Sleep", "Fidelity", "His Only Friend", "Companions in Misfortune", "Requiescat", "Jilt"), or funny playing companions ("Play Fellows", "Naughty Boy", "Giants at Play").

More Briton Rivière's dogs in forthcoming posts.

"Su único amigo / His Only Friend", óleo sobre lienzo / oil on canvas, 1871.

Manchester City Galleries (Reino Unido / UK)

Briton Rivière en "El Hurgador" / in this blog: [Pintando perros (XXIII)], [Recolección (XXXV)], [Recolección (CIII)]

David George Steell

"Esperando al Amo / Waiting for the Master", óleo sobre lienzo / oil on canvas, 66,0 x 55,9 cm., 1883

David George Steell fue un pintor escocés nacido en 1856 y fallecido en 1930, hijo de Gourlay Steell, también pintor de animales.

No hay información disponible, salvo de su padre. Encontré algunos de sus perros en subastas y algunos sitios de la red, así que a disfrutar de las imágenes a la espera de más datos acerca de su vida.

"Waiting for the Master" (detalle / detail)

"Cavalier King Charles Spaniel"

"Caballo de carruaje y un terrier en un establo / Carriage Horse and a Terrier in a Stable"

Óleo sobre lienzo / oil on canvas, 51 x 61 cm., 1905

David George Steell was a Scottish painter born in 1856 and died in 1930, son of Gourlay Steell, also a painter of animals.

No information available, unless his father's. I found some of his dogs at auctions and some websites, so enjoy the pictures while waiting for more data about painter's life.

"Un labrador después de la caza / A Labrador After a Shoot", óleo sobre lienzo / oil on canvas, 57 x 71 cm., 1887. 

The National Trust for Scotland (Escocia)

"Vigilando / On Guard", 1880 y "Junto a la bolsa del día / By the Days Bag", 1878

"Tiny of Skipton", óleo sobre lienzo / oil on canvas, 15" x 18", 1927

"Cazando conejos / Rabbiting", óleo sobre lienzo / oil on canvas, 67,3 x 90,2 cm., 1895

Sydney Dobell - "Tommy's Dead"

(England in Time of War, 1856)

TOMMY'S DEAD

You may give over plough, boys,

You may take the gear to the stead,

All the sweat o' your brow, boys,

Will never get beer and bread.

The seed's waste, I know, boys,

There's not a blade will grow, boys,

'T is cropped out, I trow, boys,

And Tommy's dead.

Send the colt to the fair, boys,

He's going blind, as I said,

My old eyes can't bear, boys,

To see him in the shed;

The cow's dry and spare, boys,

She's neither here nor there, boys,

I doubt she's badly bred;

Stop the mill to-morn, boys,

There'll be no more corn, boys,

Neither white nor red;

There's no sign of grass, boys,

You may sell the goat and the ass, boys,

The land's not what it was, boys,

And the beasts must be fed:

You may turn Peg away, boys,

You may pay off old Ned,

We've had a dull day, boys,

And Tommy's dead.

Move my chair on the floor, boys,

Let me turn my head:

She's standing there in the door, boys,

Your sister Winifred!

Take her away from me, boys,

Your sister Winifred!

Move me round in my place, boys,

Let me turn my head,

Take her away from me, boys,

As she lay on her death-bed,

The bones of her thin face, boys,

As she lay on her death-bed!

I don't know how it be, boys,

When all's done and said,

But I see her looking at me, boys,

Wherever I turn my head;

Out of the big oak-tree, boys,

Out of the garden-bed,

And the lily as pale as she, boys,

And the rose that used to be red.

There's something not right, boys,

But I think it's not in my head,

I've kept my precious sight, boys—

The Lord be hallowed!

Outside and in

The ground is cold to my tread,

The hills are wizen and thin,

The sky is shrivelled and shred,

The hedges down by the loan

I can count them bone by bone,

The leaves are open and spread

But I see the teeth of the land,

And hands like a dead man's hand.

There's nothing but cinders and sand,

The rat and the mouse have fed,

And the summer's empty and cold;

Over valley and wold

Wherever I turn my head

There's a mildew and a mould,

The sun's going out over head,

And I'm very old,

And Tommy's dead.

What am I staying for, boys,

You're all born and bred,

'Tis fifty years and more, boys,

Since wife and I were wed,

And she's gone before, boys,

And Tommy's dead.

She was always sweet, boys,

Upon his curly head,

She knew he'd never see't, boys,

And she stole off to bed;

I've been sitting up alone, boys,

For he'd come home, he said,

But it's time I was gone, boys,

For Tommy's dead.

Put the shutters up, boys,

Bring out the beer and bread,

Make haste and sup, boys,

For my eyes are heavy as lead;

There's something wrong i' the cup, boys,

There's something ill wi' the bread,

I don't care to sup, boys,

And Tommy's dead.

I'm not right, I doubt, boys,

I've such a sleepy head,

I shall never more be stoud, boys,

You may carry me to bed.

What are you about, boys.

The prayers are all said,

The fire's raked out, boys,

And Tommy's dead.

The stairs are too steep, boys,

You may carry me to the head,

The night's dark and deep, boys,

Your mother's long in bed,

Tis time to go to sleep, boys,

And Tommy's dead.

I'm not used to kiss, boys,

You may shake my hand instead.

All things go amiss, boys,

You may lay me where she is, boys,

And I'll rest my old head:

'T is a poor world, this, boys,

And Tommy's dead.