Sold at Auction: Edwin Landseer

Artist Sir Edwin Landseer, born in London in 1802, was a brilliant animal painter. In 1815, Landseer began studying under the famous painter Benjamin Robert Haydon who encouraged him to master animal anatomy. In the same year, the Royal Academy's Summer Exhibition exhibited his first piece. Landseer was an associate of the Royal Academy by the time he was 24 and a full member before he turned 30. Scholars attribute this meteoric rise to Sir Edwin Landseer's paintings of anthropomorphic animals in moralizing scenes. 

At the height of his success as an artist, Sir Edwin Landseer enjoyed royal patronage and was personally commissioned by Queen Victoria to paint the royal family. Sadly, however, Landseer never completed this portrait, and he struggled with depression and alcoholism until his death in 1873. Nonetheless, Sir Edwin Landseer's prints maintain an enduring legacy. Collectors can find rare animal prints for sale at Invaluable.