Arthur Fitzwilliam Tait Animal Paintings

Signed lower right, "A.F.Tait", inscribed "N.Y." and dated 1883. Arthur Fitzwilliam Tait first studied at London's Royal Academy before emigrating to New York in 1850. Influenced by the work of Edwin Landseer and by the style of the Pre-Raphaelites, Tait established himself as a realistic painter of animals shown in their natural surroundings. In his summer studio in the Adirondack Mountains, he concentrated on painting animal and sporting scenes, often with humorous or anecdotal content. These genre paintings appealed to a wide audience and, from 1852, Currier & Ives published a successful series of lithographs of the artist's work. By the end of his life, Tait was celebrated as America's pre-eminent animal painter. His works are held in the permanent collections of the nation's most prominent museums, including New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art and the National Gallery in Washington, DC. We are pleased to offer this elegant interior scene showing an impeccably-groomed Yorkie seated patiently on a red velvet-upholstered side-chair. The artist has included a wealth of period detail, including the fashionable kid-gloves and malacca cane, as well as the acutely-observed rendering of late-Victorian furnishings...