Arthur WARDLE (Londres, 1864 – 1949) - The Monkey

Arthur WARDLE (London, 1864 – 1949)
The Monkey.
Oil on canvas.
Signed lower left “ARTHUR WARDLE”
Late 19th – early 20th century
H. 58 – W. 48.5 cm.

In this painting, the subject is depicted in isolation against a relatively neutral background; the supple brushstrokes and precise rendering of the fur demonstrate the painter’s technical mastery, as he was accustomed to capturing the texture of fur and the liveliness of the eyes. The composition, simple and direct, accentuates the narrative effect and draws the viewer into the scene. In Wardle’s work, however, the approach remains more naturalistic: the subject retains its animal identity whilst suggesting a scene full of wit.
The animal, perched on a chest, is captured in the moment and seems to blend perfectly into the domestic life suggested by the presence of the furniture, rugs, chest and book. Wardle stood out in two respects: firstly, he avoided sentimental narratives and anthropomorphic embellishments. And yet, as we can admire in this work, every animal captured by Wardle’s brush is endowed with a genuine personality.

Arthur Wardle was a British painter renowned for his depictions of domestic and wild animals.
Born in London in 1864, he showed artistic talent from a very early age: a work of his was exhibited at the Royal Academy when he was just sixteen and entirely self-taught. This first exhibition, a study of cattle by the banks of the Thames, already revealed his enduring interest in animal painting.
Noted for his paintings of felines, Wardle spent most of his career in London. After living in Camden, his success enabled him to move to the artistic neighbourhood of St John’s Wood in the late 19th century.

The fact that he taught himself to paint gives his works a wholly unique quality, far removed from academic conventions and with a modern touch, despite the rather naturalistic subject matter of his animal compositions.

He is particularly famous for his portraits of pedigree dogs and for the large composition *The Totteridge XI* (1897), depicting a group of fox terriers and now held at the Kennel Club in London.
Wardle worked in several media: oil, watercolour and pastel. He was elected a Fellow of the Pastel Society in 1911 and became a member of the Royal Institute of Painters in Watercolours in 1922.
His career was highly successful: he held his first solo exhibition at the Fine Art Society in 1931 and his works were widely exhibited and reproduced. He died in London in 1949.
Even today, he remains one of the most highly regarded British animal painters of the late Victorian era and the first half of the 20th century.