Maud Earl

(British, 1863-1943)

A French Bulldog

Footnotes

Maud Earl is renowned for her paintings of pure-bred and important dogs of her day - her name is virtually synonymous with portraits of pure breed dogs. As the daughter and niece respectively of the well-known animal artists, George Earl (1824 -1908) and Thomas Earl (active 1836-1885), she was encouraged to develop her canine brilliance.

However, as a child Earl was more interested in becoming a musician, but under her father's tutelage, she rapidly became a talented painter. Working first in black and white, drawing her subjects repeatedly, then learning the anatomy, by first drawing the skeleton. This training proved her unsurpassed ability at the depiction of a dog's anatomy.

Earl attended The Royal Female School of Art, winning a prize for modelling in 1886. She exhibited her first work at the Royal Academy in 1884 – a painting of a stag – with her first dog painting being exhibited there in 1886. In total she exhibited 13 works at the Royal Academy. She also exhibited 20 works at the Fine Art Gallery, 19 at the Walker Art Gallery, Liverpool, and then once at the Royal Society of Artists, Birmingham, and Manchester City Art Gallery.

Never working from photographs, Earl sketched the anatomy in pastels, before painting in oil in the presence of the dog. With early commissions coming from the world of dog shows, and later for Queen Victoria, the Prince and Princess of Wales (later Edward VII), Albert and Alexander, and Kathleen, the Duchess of Newcastle. One such famous portrayal was of 'Ceasar', Edward VII's, much loved Fox Terrier.

Having accepted commercial commissions from the Whisky distillers, James Buchanan, Earl produced work for several advertising campaigns. With international recognition and solo exhibitions, her work became popularised by her work appearing in many illustrated books, limited edition prints and engravings, and the fashionable magazines of the day.

Earl's own published work included photogravure portfolios titled 'British Hounds and Gun Dogs' and 'Terrier and Toys'. They were published by The Berlin Photographic Company in 1902 and 1903 respectively. Another famous work published 1906 by this Berlin company was the 'The Sportsman Calendar'.

In 1917, Earl emigrated to America, taking a studio over Central Park at 590 Fifth Avenue, and it is in this city that she died. Working over a period of 50 years she left an extraordinary body of fine paintings, and her work is in the collections of the Kennel Club, Birkenhead; the Worthing Museum and Art Gallery; and the Russell-Cotes Art Gallery and Museum, Bournemouth.