3-017-287 - The Print Collector/Heritage Images

The late J. F. Herring, animal painter, 1865. '...as regards racehorse and purely farmyard subjects, Mr. Herring was unrivalled...[He was] of Americo-Dutch extraction...[and] taught himself drawing by stealth in his bedroom, after the family were gone to bed...[He] received many commissions for coaching pictures, one of which brought in 50 gs., and he had also commenced, with Filho da Puta, that series of St. Leger winners, which soon led him to fame...For three or four years [towards the end of his life] he had been a great sufferer from asthma and dropsy, and nothing but the most indomitable love of his profession enabled him to paint on. Although he had turned seventy, his skill suffered no decline as far as horse drawing and painting went'. From "Illustrated London News", 1865.