James Ward (1769-1859), Engraver and painter of animals

Sitter in 4 portraits
Artist associated with 39 portraits
Painter and printmaker; Ward began his career as an engraver but aspired to the higher status of being a painter. Among a range of influences those of the rustic genre painter, George Morland, and of Peter Paul Rubens dominated his art. In the first quarter of the nineteenth century, Ward became the most sought after painter of animals of his day, painting mainly horses but also other animals as well as landscapes and genre scenes. His masterpiece is the monumental Gordale Scar (Tate Britain). Ward continued to be an exceptionally prolific artist throughout his long career but, in spite of this, his later years were plagued by financial difficulties.