Herbert Thomas Dicksee RE

(British, 1862-1942)

My Lady Sleeps image 25 x 49cm (9 13/16 x 19 5/16in).

Footnotes

Herbert Thomas Dicksee came from a family of artists, his father being John Robert Dicksee (1817-1905), his uncle Thomas Francis Dicksee (1819 –1895), whose children were Sir Francis (Frank) Dicksee PRA (1853 –1928) and Margaret Isabell Dicksee (1858-1903). He first studied at the City of London School where his father had been the Drawing Master since 1953, and at 16 he entered the Slade School.

Dicksee first exhibited in 1881 and in 1885 he was made a member of the Royal Society of Painters-Etchers and Engravers, where he exhibited 143 works. He also exhibited 95 works at the Royal Academy. His first dog picture exhibited at the Royal Academy was of Dingoes attacking sheep, after a picture by Alfred William Strutt (1856-1924). Other exhibits included 44 works at the Walker Gallery, Liverpool; 4 at the Manchester City Art Gallery; 2 at the Royal Institute of Painters in Water Colours; 1 at the Royal Society of Artists, Birmingham; and others at the Glasgow Institute of Fine Arts and the Royal Society of British Artists.

Publishers such as Frost & Reed in particular, but also The Fine Art Society and Arthur Tooth & Sons, were quick to see his public popularity, using illustrated catalogues to show his work, then in 1901.

A dog lover, Dicksee was often seen walking his Bloodhound. The Dandie Dinmont and Pugs often featured in his etchings were family dogs, as was the favourite Bull Terrier. The black French Bulldog, 'Shaver', featured in etchings was the only dog Dicksee ever entered for a dog show. At one show in Olympia, Dicksee walked the dog from Hampstead to the show venue to try to get weight off him before he went in the ring! Probably his best-known dog picture would be Where's Master?, following a commission from King Edward Vll to paint his favourite dog, a Wire-haired Fox Terrier - the picture was exhibited in 1911.

When his father retired in 1895, Dicksee took over as Drawing Master at the City of London School, only retiring in 1927. His best-known pupil was Arthur Rackham. Today his work can be seen in the California State Library, The American Kennel Club, and the British Museum.