Foxhounds by a Pool

Samuel Raven was born in Birmingham on 10th December 1775 and spent his entire life in that city.

Little is known of his upbringing or where he undertook his artistic training and really it is through the legacy of his paintings that we know him.

He depicted genre, still life and animal and sporting subjects and of the latter, produced a number of dog and hunting scenes. These are distinctive in style having dark tones and a finished high quality appearance and are often small in size and painted on wooden panels or millboard. There is a lot of detail and his style was well suited to painting the lids of papier-maché boxes which was another of his professional undertakings.


Bibliography:

The Dictionary of British Equestrian Artists - Sally Mitchell

Dog Painting 1840-1940 - William Secord

Dictionary of Victorian Painters-Christopher Wood