3907 - Thomas Sidney Cooper, By the Canal

Thomas Sidney Cooper, By the Canal a shepherd drives his colourful herd of cattle past a tree-lined canal with a lock; a farmstead is depicted behind further scrub; watercolour in delicate tones on paper, signed and dated ‘Sidney Cooper 1869’ in the bottom right-hand corner, attribution by the artist in Swedish on the reverse, slight signs of ageing, framed behind glass in a passe-partout, visible dimensions approx. 17.5 x 25.5 cm. Artist information: prominent English animal painter, specialising in cattle (1803 Canterbury to 1902 Vernon Holme near Canterbury); initially, from 1815, an apprenticeship as a carriage painter; later a pupil of the stage painter Doyle and employed as a theatre painter in Faversham and, in 1820, in Hastings; followed by a brief return to Canterbury as a carriage painter; in 1823, he moved to London and undertook self-taught studies at the British Museum; through the intercession of Sir Th. Lawrence, he was admitted to the Royal Academy School; due to financial difficulties, he returned to Canterbury after a few months and worked as an art teacher; in 1827, he travelled throughout Europe, including a stay in Brussels, where he befriended the animal painter Verboeckhoven, returned to London in 1830 and turned to animal painting; submitted works to the Royal Academy exhibitions from 1833 until his final submission in 1902; appointed an Associate of the Royal Academy in 1845 in recognition of the quality of his work, In 1867, at the height of his career, he was elected a full member of the Royal Academy; he also submitted works to the exhibitions of the London Watercolour Society; his works are held in numerous museums, including the National Gallery of British Art, the Victoria and Albert Museum, the British Museum, in Glasgow, Melbourne, Liverpool, Sydney and Birmingham; many of Cooper’s paintings became popular through engravings; he worked in Canterbury; source: Thieme-Becker and the internet.