Reuben Ward Binks (1880,

Bolton Bolton (, locally ) is a large town in Greater Manchester in North West England, formerly a part of Lancashire. A former mill town, Bolton has been a production centre for textiles since Flemish people, Flemish weavers settled in the area i ...

Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated Lancs) is the name of a historic county, ceremonial county, and non-metropolitan county in North West England. The boundaries of these three areas differ significantly. The non-metropolitan county of Lancashi ...

– 17 May 1950,

Westmorland Westmorland (, formerly also spelt ''Westmoreland'';R. Wilkinson The British Isles, Sheet The British IslesVision of Britain/ref> is a historic county in North West England spanning the southern Lake District and the northern Dales. It had an ...

) was an English artist in canine portraiture, Lakeland landscapes and wildlife painting.

Life and career

Binks was recognised as the leading artist of his day in canine portraiture, not only in the UK but abroad. He painted dogs for three generations of the British Royal family, and among his patrons were four successive monarchs. He spent many months in the

Punjab Punjab (; Punjabi: پنجاب ; ਪੰਜਾਬ ; ; also romanised as ''Panjāb'' or ''Panj-Āb'') is a geopolitical, cultural, and historical region in South Asia, specifically in the northern part of the Indian subcontinent, comprising ...

, painting for an Indian potentate, the Maharaja Bhupinder Singh, the ruling Maharaja of the princely state of

Patiala Patiala () is a city in southeastern Punjab, India, Punjab, northwestern India. It is the fourth largest city in the state and is the administrative capital of Patiala district. Patiala is located around the ''Qila Mubarak, Patiala, Qila Mubarak ...

from 1900 to 1938) and he paid several visits to the USA to fulfil commissions for prominent American families, including Geraldine R. Dodge, niece of the famous millionaire,

John D. Rockefeller John Davison Rockefeller Sr. (July 8, 1839 – May 23, 1937) was an American business magnate and philanthropist. He has been widely considered the wealthiest American of all time and the richest person in modern history. Rockefeller was ...

. Starting as a miniaturist, he painted some exquisite examples of that art, but had to give it up owing to the strain on his eyes and took to painting sporting subjects. A great lover of dogs, they featured in many of his pictures and it was soon apparent that he had a distinct flair in that direction. He used a variety of media –

drypoint Drypoint is a printmaking technique of the intaglio (printmaking), intaglio family, in which an image is incised into a plate (or "matrix") with a hard-pointed "needle" of sharp metal or diamond point. In principle, the method is practically ident ...

etching Etching is traditionally the process of using strong acid or mordant to cut into the unprotected parts of a metal surface to create a design in intaglio (incised) in the metal. In modern manufacturing, other chemicals may be used on other types ...

aquatint Aquatint is an intaglio printmaking technique, a variant of etching that produces areas of tone rather than lines. For this reason it has mostly been used in conjunction with etching, to give both lines and shaded tone. It has also been used h ...

pastel A pastel () is an art medium in a variety of forms including a stick, a square a pebble or a pan of color; though other forms are possible; they consist of powdered pigment and a binder. The pigments used in pastels are similar to those use ...

and

watercolour Watercolor (American English) or watercolour (British English; see spelling differences), also ''aquarelle'' (; from Italian diminutive of Latin ''aqua'' "water"), is a painting method”Watercolor may be as old as art itself, going back to t ...

– and, as his skill developed, so did his reputation. His talent attracting Royal notice, Binks was commissioned to paint the famous terrier, “Caesar”

Caesar (dog) Caesar (1898–1914) was a Wire Fox Terrier owned by King Edward VII. He was bred in the kennels of Kathleen, Duchess of Newcastle, and became the constant companion of the King. After the King's death in 1910, the dog attended the funeral and ...

, for King

Edward VII Edward VII (Albert Edward; 9 November 1841 – 6 May 1910) was King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and Emperor of India, from 22 January 1901 until his death in 1910. The second child and eldest son of Queen Victoria an ...

and some of the favourite dogs of

Queen Alexandra Alexandra of Denmark (Alexandra Caroline Marie Charlotte Louise Julia; 1 December 1844 – 20 November 1925) was Queen of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions, and Empress of India, from 22 January 1901 to 6 May 1910 as the wife of King ...

. He also painted Clumber spaniels for King

George V George V (George Frederick Ernest Albert; 3 June 1865 – 20 January 1936) was King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions, and Emperor of India, from 6 May 1910 until Death and state funeral of George V, his death in 1936. Born duri ...

, Cairns for King

Edward VIII Edward VIII (Edward Albert Christian George Andrew Patrick David; 23 June 1894 – 28 May 1972), later known as the Duke of Windsor, was King of the United Kingdom and the Dominions of the British Empire and Emperor of India from 20 January 19 ...

(then Prince of Wales), retrievers for King

George VI George VI (Albert Frederick Arthur George; 14 December 1895 – 6 February 1952) was King of the United Kingdom and the Dominions of the British Commonwealth from 11 December 1936 until Death and state funeral of George VI, his death in 1952. ...

(then the Duke of York), terriers for the Duke of Gloucester (then Prince Henry), Alsatians for the late Duke of Kent (then Prince George), and the pets of Princess Victoria (sister of King George V). During the reign of King George V, Binks was frequently asked to attend the Royal shoots at

Sandringham Sandringham can refer to: Places * Sandringham, New South Wales, Australia * Sandringham, Queensland, Australia * Sandringham, Victoria, Australia **Sandringham railway line **Sandringham railway station **Electoral district of Sandringham * Sand ...

in order to sketch the sporting dogs at work. Among his most treasured possessions was a signed portrait of His Majesty given to him by the King in 1929, framed in red morocco and bearing the Royal crown in gilt. In 1925, Binks went to India to paint 150 pictures of dogs for the Maharajah of Patiala. Much of his work appeared in such UK publications as the weekly newspaper, ''

The Sketch ''The Sketch'' was a British illustrated weekly journal. It ran for 2,989 issues between 1 February 1893 and 17 June 1959. It was published by the Illustrated London News Company and was primarily a society magazine with regular features on roy ...

'', ''Field'' magazine, '' Country Life'' magazine and '' Bystander'' magazine.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Binks, Reuben Ward Dog artists Pastel artists English watercolourists English etchers 20th-century English painters English male painters 1880 births 1950 deaths 20th-century British printmakers 20th-century English male artists