John Trivett Nettleship artwork • watercolour • drawing • previously for sale Polar bear with young on an ice flow at sunset

John Trivet Nettleship (1841-1902) was a successful artist who specialized in painting wildlife. He also wrote books and was an illustrator. After graduating from law school, he started working at his father's law firm, but soon a life devoted to the arts attracted him more. He took painting lessons at the Heatherley and Slade art schools in London, but largely formed himself. Initially he achieved success as a writer – especially of essays – and even won the English verse prize in 1856. At the beginning of his artistic career and influenced by his friendships with members of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood, Nettleship mainly painted Biblical scenes. But he soon turned his attention to painting wildlife, especially lions and tigers. In 1880, during a trip to India at the invitation of the Maharaja of the state of Baroda, he had the opportunity to capture large game while hunting. For nearly three decades he exhibited and established his name in large format paintings of this subject at the Royal Academy and Grosvenor Gallery in London. In his later years he also painted in pastel on a smaller scale.