John Frederick Herring Sr.

Mrs. M. Dalton, Stray Lodge, Harrogate (and sold, by her executors, Christie's, London, November 15, 1991, lot 46, illustrated)
Richard Green, London 
Private Western Collector (and sold, Christie's, New York, April 8, 2008, lot 29, illustrated)
Acquired at the above sale

This work has been lined. The surface is clean and the colors remain vibrant. Minor frame abrasion and in some places the edge of painted surface is visible along the upper and center right edges. Under UV: retouching in the sky at upper left includes smaller areas; a few scattered pinpoints; brushier retouching to the darker gray clouds. There are a few isolated areas of retouching throughout the architecture, bush and ground. Retouching is visible around the female figure's profile; on the gentleman's feather and underneath his proper right glove; and on the shadow of the horse's face, hooves and rump. The red pigments remain active and fluoresce.
In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective qualified opinion.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING CONDITION OF A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD "AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF SALE PRINTED IN THE CATALOGUE.

Throughout his career, which started with painting coachmen’s signs, John Frederick Herring Snr. nurtured a talent that earned him international fame as one of the great British equestrian painters of the nineteenth century. The successful and prolific artist boasted in 1848: “My pictures are no sooner seen than purchased… at prices far beyond my sanguine expectations when I was languishing at Doncaster” (as quoted in Judy Egerton, British Sporting and Animal Paintings, 1655-1867, London, 1978, p. 309). Herring rivaled only Sir Edwin Landseer for pre-eminence as a painter of animals, becoming the appointed artist to the Duchess of Kent, mother of Queen Victoria,  in 1845 and, most notably, to Queen Victoria. His animal portraits were in great demand, and all tallied he painted eighteen winners of the Derby, thirty-three successive winners of the St. Leger, and countless other horses, whether as individuals or as part of racing groups. Over 500 of his works were made into engravings, which were as likely hung in country houses as tack rooms and brought the artist popularity and wealth.

By 1836, Herring Snr. had joined the Society of British Artists. He had exhibited at the Royal Academy, a rival to the Society’s, in the past, but found a cool reception to his horse portraits. By 1840, in an effort to increase his market and broaden his horizons from racing scenes, Herring provided his pictures with more descriptive and fewer racing titles, such as Mare and Foals and Going to Plough.  As illustrated by The Rose, with its flirtatious couple in troubadour costume, Herring also began to explore subject pictures using the Romantic poems of Byron and others as inspiration.

By the early 1850s, Herring Snr. had moved to Meopham Park, near Tonbridge, Kent, where his canon of racing subjects expanded to include scenes that he found in the nearby countryside. In 1855, he wrote to a friend of his new surroundings, which included ”Piggerys, Cow House, Farm Yard and Cow Shed, a very pretty Saddle Room, and a room to paint in 21 feet square. We also have afield about 4 acres. We have 5 horses. An open and a close Carriage, 10 cows, pigs, 2 Donkeys, Geese, Peacock and hen, lots of Fowl & Ducks and 2 Dogs.” (letter to ‘Rosalie’, dated November 11, 1855; see Oliver Beckett, J.F. Herring & Sons, London, 1981, p. 82). As seen in the following group of paintings, Herring’s works from this period reflect his new life of rural domesticity, focusing on families of barnyard animals and idyllic surroundings. These farmyard scenes featured an expanded repertoire of animals, from fowl to shire horses, to whom he applied the same level of remarkable physical detail as he did to the expensive and famous racehorses.

The farmyard paintings, while inspired by country life around Herring’s home in Meopham Park, appealed to a buying public who were increasingly urban appreciated the Herring family of artists scenes of rural life. Three of Herring’s four sons followed their father’s artistic path, though John Frederick Jnr. achieved the greatest recognition. Working in a similar style and subject matter to his father, his farmyard scenes continued to sell as quickly as they were painted.