Animalistic Scotland
William Reid Dick was a Scottish sculptor known for his innovative stylisation of form in his monument sculptures and simplicity in his portraits. He became an Associate of the Royal Academy in 1921, and a Royal Academician in 1928. Dick served as president of the Royal Society of British Sculptors from 1933 to 1938. He was knighted by King George V in 1935. He was Sculptor in Ordinary for Scotland to King George VI from 1938 to 1952 then held the post under Queen Elizabeth until his death in 1961.
Edwin James Douglas was a British animal painter.
Edwin was the son of the famous portrait painter James Douglas, studied at the Royal Scottish Academy schools and exhibited his first works at the Royal Scottish Academy at the age of only 17. Edwin Douglas painted hunting scenes, dogs and horses, which attracted many famous patrons, including Sir Charles Tennant and Queen Victoria. She even purchased a painting of setters as a birthday present for King Edward VII.
Douglas was a very successful artist whose animal paintings, like those of his predecessor Landseer, resonated with Victorian collectors. He was best at dogs and horses, but he also painted portraits and genre pictures. Between 1869 and 1900 he exhibited at the Royal Academy, forty-one works in all, at the Royal Scottish Academy and other venues in London and the provinces. In addition to painting, Douglas had a passion for cattle breeding and was elected an honorary life member of the Jersey Cattle Society of England.
John Mather was a Scottish-Australian plein-air painter and etcher. As a painter, Mather was involved in the bohemian Artists' Camps of Sydney. In 1912 along with Frederick McCubbin, Max Meldrum, Walter Withers Mather formed the breakaway Australian Art Association. Three of Mather's own paintings, Autumn in the Fitzroy Gardens in oils, and Morning, Lake Omeo and Wintry Weather, Yarra Glen, both watercolours, were purchased by the National Gallery of Victoria.
