Arthur John Elsley

Private Collection, Canada

London, Royal Academy, 1893, no. 516

Terry Parker, Golden Hours: The Paintings of Arthur J. Elsley 1860-1952, Shepton Beauchamp, 1998, pp. 21-2, illustrated p. 12

The following condition report was kindly provided by Simon Parkes Art Conservation, Inc.: This painting is in very good condition. The canvas is un-lined. The paint layer is clean and varnished, and the painting should be hung as is. Under ultraviolet light a handful of retouches are visible addressing some tiny cracks in the white pigment in the puppies and in the left sleeve and the cheeks of the young girl.
"This lot is offered for sale subject to Sotheby's Conditions of Business, which are available on request and printed in Sotheby's sale catalogues. The independent reports contained in this document are provided for prospective bidders' information only and without warranty by Sotheby's or the Seller."

Elsley's paintings, which he continued to exhibit at the Royal Academy until 1917, demonstrate his artistic aptitude for, as well as the commercial popularity of, sentimental narratives at the time. His delightful renditions of children frequently show them playing amongst themselves or with their pets, and Elsley cleverly relies on humour to create narratives that continue to captivate his audience's interest. For example, in I'se Biggest, which was exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1892 and won him considerable public acclaim, a small girl stands on a book and measures herself against an enormous St Bernard Dog, while in Suprised!, of 1904, a lady on her horse is shown leaping over a monastery wall and scattering monks in all directions. 

Similarly, A Dead Heat is a tremendously charming painting that became very well known not only among collectors of Elsley's work, but the general public as well. Many of Elsley's paintings were engraved or used for advertisements, greatly enhancing his popularity and making him a household name and his idyllic images of childhood icons of the Edwardian Era. A black and white photo of this painting appears in Royal Academy Notes (1893, p. 100), opposite Roses and Thorns, by Fred Morgan, with whom Elsley shared a studio. Both works were copyrighted by Berlin Photographic, and a representative from the print company would have visited their studio prior in order to select which works to reproduce. A Dead Heat marked Elsley's first work to be published by the company and the start of a long association.

It was also common for well-known paintings to be parodied and A Dead Heat was so well recognized that it was used twice in political cartoons. First, by Joseph Morwood Staniforth in The Western Mail, 10th June 1893, showing three contestants for the Liberal leadership climbing the stairs with Gladstone "Coaxing Them Up" and, soon afterwards, James Affleck Shepherd drew "Which Wins?" with the contestants' faces superimposed onto the scrambling puppies; from left to right they were Lord Rosebery, Sir William Harcourt and Earl Spencer.

Children and animals are not the most cooperative subjects, however, and Elsley ought to be credited for his patience and inventiveness in the studio. In 1904, The London Magazine wrote the following about the painting:

"Perhaps, of all Mr. Elsley's works, A Dead Heat was the most tiring and troublesome to paint.  The reason was the difficulty in the getting the puppies to stand in the position he wanted.  As a preliminary, the stairs were made and taken to the studio. With a piece of meat in his hand, Mr. Elsley would endeavor to entice the puppies to the top; and he would study the various positions in which they scrambled up until he had discovered those which suited his purpose best.  Having determined the positions, the difficulty was to get the animals to keep them. Of course, only one dog could be painted at a time, so the difficulty of the problem was reduced, at all events, to a certain extent  In the earlier stages of the proceedings, however, there was an unexpected difficulty.  The puppy would not remain on the steps unless it was supported or held there; and Mr. Elsley found that as soon as he turned his back to go to the easel the little animal would scamper down the steps. When Mr. Elsley attempted to catch it, it would run off round the studio, evidently thinking he was playing a game with it.  The humour of this, however amusing to the dog, got monotonous and fatiguing to the painter, to say nothing of the way in which it interfered with the progress of the picture."

How to keep the dog quiet and not have to chase it every five minutes was the problem.  It was solved by the aid of a leather bag. Mr. Elsley put the dog as nearly as possible in the position in which he wanted it, watched it carefully until he could remember no more, then picked it up, popped it into the bag, went back to the easel, and painted until he had finished all he had seen. Then he would open the bag, put the dog back into position, watch it a little more, and repeat the operation.  After this had gone on a few times the little beast used to improve the period of rest by calmly going to sleep in the bag.  The feet and legs of all the dogs were painted from the same animal.  In time it became so trained in the process that it would actually go to sleep in the position in which Mr. Elsley placed it, and so became an ideal sitter." (Rudolph De Cordova, "The Children's Season," The London Magazine, December 1904, pp. 629-30).