Doggy Paintings

Here's a British artist I haven't come across before, probably because he specialized in painting dogs for the upper crust. Reuben Ward Binks (1860-1945) trained at Manchester Art School. His career took off when Lorna, Countess of Howe, commissioned him to paint her sporting dogs. She was so impressed by his work that she recommended him to her royal contacts. Kings George V, Edward VIII and George VI all commissioned paintings from him. He spent more than eight months in residence painting the gun dogs of the Maharajah Dhiraj of Patiala. He also travelled twice to America, where he painted over 200 portraits of Mrs Geraldine Rockefeller Dodge's champion pooches. Thirty-one of his paintings come up for sale in Bonhams' New York auction Dogs in Show & Field: The Fine Art Sale on 15 February. The above watercolour up for grabs is Black Retriever with Duck, estimated value $1,000 to $1,500 (title link).