Herbert Dicksee (1862-1942) 'In The Enemy's Country'

Herbert Dicksee (1862-1942)
'In The Enemy's Country', lion and lioness on the lookout
etching by Herbert Thomas Dicksee, published 1st November 1900 by Frost & Reed, London. Framed in the original black ebonised frame and gilt slip. A good clean etching with great definition to the image depicting these majestic lions watching the approach of men on horseback in the valley below. The frame is in very good condition it is supplied with a new hanging wire and ready for the wall.

76cm H, 96cm W (the frame)

Herbert Thomas Dicksee (14 June 1862 – 20 February 1942) was one of the greatest wild animal artists of his generation, his etchings capture the majesty of the animals through his unique style and technique.

Ironically, Dicksee never travelled to Africa, or the Far East, which is remarkable given the accuracy and authenticity of his works. Instead, he enlisted the help of London’s zookeepers to persuade the animals to adopt the natural poses he needed to stimulate ideas for pictures.

Dicksee lived in London, Fitzroy Square, a short walk from the London Zoological Gardens, the world’s oldest scientific zoo, at Regent’s Park. It was here that Dicksee discovered a passion for capturing the power and majesty of the lions, tigers and big cats that inhabited the gardens.

According to a 1906 article in the monthly Windsor Magazine, Herbert would “...rise at 6 o`clock in the morning to visit the Zoological Gardens before visitors could arrive and obstruct his view. There he would be seen, morning after morning, making sketches of the lions and tigers in the reposeful intervals of their restless movements."

Consequently, Dicksee emerged as one of the leading wild animal painters of Edwardian Britain and one of the first generation of artists to create majestic, accurate, and energetic images of lions, leopards, and tigers. As a reward for his frequent visits and faithful renditions, Herbert was made a Fellow of London Zoo

Herbert Dicksee died in 1942 in Hampstead. His daughter Dorothy was the executor of his will, which directed her to destroy most of the plates for Dicksee's etchings, thereby making these remaining etchings all the more important.