Sir Edwin Henry Landseer, R.A.

The Artist, retained in his studio;

His posthumous sale, London, Christie’s, 8 May 1874, lot 127 (£661.10s to Cox);

William Cox, London;

Probably his sale, London, Christie’s, 18 February 1884, lot 642 (titled A Bone of Contention, sold to La Roux);

Thomas McLean (d. 1908), London (according to a label, verso);

Anonymous sale, New York, Sotheby’s, 30 January 2023, lot 673 (as attributed to Théodore Géricault);

Where acquired.

A. Graves, The Works of Sir Edwin Landseer, R.A., London 1875, p. 8 (as titled 'Lion', dated circa 1822, and described as 'an early study').

This recently rediscovered study of a lion’s head is an important addition to Sir Edwin Landseer’s catalogue of work. Painted in 1822, early in the Scottish artist’s career, this study exhibits the characteristic freedom, rapidity of brushwork, and assurance of handling that define much of his output, and which combined here powerfully render the palpable vitality of a large and ferocious feline.

A favourite of Queen Victoria, Sir Edwin Landseer was among the greatest animal painters of the 19th century. In particular, the subject of the lion captivated him throughout his long career across various media, as evidenced by works such as his pencil study of a lion’s head (fig. 1),¹ executed in about 1810 around the precocious age of 8, his famed bronze sculptures of the animal installed in 1867 at the base of Nelson’s Column in Trafalgar Square, and countless other works in oil, including three that he exhibited publicly at the British Institution in the early 1820s, around the time the present study was completed.

A large profile head of a lion fills nearly the entirety of this panel. Although the background is left unfinished, the colouring and the positioning of the lion’s paws, suggests a cave or den-like setting. Landseer has used thick passages of impasto to capture some of the most important parts of the lion’s features, from its lush golden mane to his bare teeth and bright red curling tongue. He defines details such as the lion’s whiskers not only with fine strokes of paint but also with thin scratches directly into the paint surface, as seen at the corner of the lion’s mouth. Some of Landseer’s preparatory pencil strokes are visible in lion’s left paw, and infrared photography reveals a notable shift in Landseer’s final placement of the lion’s right paw.

This study of a lion compares in composition to a black and white chalk study by Landseer that sold from the collection of Brooke Astor at Sotheby’s New York in September 2102.² It is tempting to consider if Landseer may have looked back upon the present oil study and perhaps also the related chalk sketch when painting his Lion Defending its Prey in about 1840, an oil that is today at the National Gallery of Art in Washington DC (fig. 2).³

The six-day sale of the contents of Landseer’s studio–which included paintings, drawings, prints and books–was held at Christie’s in May 1874 and attracted widespread interest, with strong competition from collectors and dealers alike. The present study was among the over 1,400 lots on offer in that sale, where it was acquired by William Cox. Almost certainly it was the study by Landseer included in Cox’s 1884 auction, titled A Bone of Contention.

We are grateful to Richard Ormond for his assistance and for endorsing the attribution to Sir Edwin Henry Landseer.  

¹ Inv. no. 02/173; pencil on cream wove paper, 8.3 x 8.5 cm.

² Sotheby's, New York, 24 September 2012, lot 239.

³ Inv. no. 2004.166.26; oil on paper on canvas, 25.1 x 32.4 cm.