Briton Rivière (14 August 1840 in
London20 April 1920 in
London) was a British
artist
An artist is a person engaged in an activity related to creating art, practicing the arts, or demonstrating an art. The common usage in both everyday speech and academic discourse refers to a practitioner in the visual arts only. However, th ...
of
Huguenot descent. He exhibited a variety of paintings at the
Royal Academy
The Royal Academy of Arts (RA) is an art institution based in Burlington House on Piccadilly in London. Founded in 1768, it has a unique position as an independent, privately funded institution led by eminent artists and architects. Its pur ...
, but devoted much of his life to animal paintings.
Biography
Briton's father,
William Rivière
William Riviere (1806–1876) sometimes Rivière, was an English painter and art educator.
Life
Born in the parish of St Marylebone, London, on 22 October 1806, was son of Daniel Valentine Riviere, a drawing-master; and brother of Henry Parsons ...
(1806–1876), was for some years drawing-master at
Cheltenham College, and then an art teacher at the
University of Oxford. Briton was educated at Cheltenham College and Oxford, where he took his degree in 1867. For his art training he was indebted almost entirely to his father.
[ This cites Sir Walter Armstrong, "Briton Riviere, R.A.: His Life and Work", ''Art Annual'' (1891).] His paternal uncle
Henry Parsons Rivière
Henry may refer to:
People
*Henry (given name)
*Henry (surname)
* Henry Lau, Canadian singer and musician who performs under the mononym Henry
Royalty
* Portuguese royalty
** King-Cardinal Henry, King of Portugal
** Henry, Count of Portugal, ...
(1811–1888) was also a noted watercolourist, exhibiting works at the
Royal Watercolour Society, London and the
Royal Birmingham Society of Artists.
His first pictures appeared at the
British Institution
The British Institution (in full, the British Institution for Promoting the Fine Arts in the United Kingdom; founded 1805, disbanded 1867) was a private 19th-century society in London formed to exhibit the works of living and dead artists; it w ...
, and in 1857 he exhibited three works at the
Royal Academy
The Royal Academy of Arts (RA) is an art institution based in Burlington House on Piccadilly in London. Founded in 1768, it has a unique position as an independent, privately funded institution led by eminent artists and architects. Its pur ...
, but it was not until 1863 that he became a regular contributor to the Academy exhibitions. In that year he was represented by ''The eve of the
Spanish Armada
The Spanish Armada (a.k.a. the Enterprise of England, es, Grande y Felicísima Armada, links=no, lit=Great and Most Fortunate Navy) was a Spanish fleet that sailed from Lisbon in late May 1588, commanded by the Duke of Medina Sidonia, an aris ...
'', and in 1864 by a ''
Romeo and Juliet
''Romeo and Juliet'' is a Shakespearean tragedy, tragedy written by William Shakespeare early in his career about the romance between two Italian youths from feuding families. It was among Shakespeare's most popular plays during his lifetim ...
''. However, subjects of this kind did not attract him long, for in 1865 he began, with ''Sleeping Deerhound'', a series of paintings of animal-subjects which occupied much of the rest of his life.
In a lengthy interview in ''
Chums Boys Annual
''Chums'' was a boys' weekly newspaper started in 1892 by Cassell & Company and later, from 1927, published by Amalgamated Press. The publisher gathered the weekly paper into monthly and annual editions. The monthly versions were published on the ...
'', entitled "How I paint animals", Rivière explained some of the practicalities of painting both tame and wild animals:

]
Early in his career, Rivière made some mark as an illustrator, beginning with ''
Punch magazine, Punch''. He was elected an
Associate of the Royal Academy of Arts
Associate may refer to:
Academics
* Associate degree, a two-year educational degree in the United States, and some areas of Canada
* Associate professor, an academic rank at a college or university
* Technical associate or Senmonshi, a Japanes ...
in 1878, and a
Royal Academician in 1881, and received the degree of
Doctor of Civil Law at Oxford in 1891.
He was narrowly defeated in the election for President of the Royal Academy in 1896. His wife, Mary Alice Rivière (née Dobell; 1844–1931) whom he married in 1867, was a painter and exhibited briefly at the
Royal Academy of Arts
The Royal Academy of Arts (RA) is an art institution based in Burlington House on Piccadilly in London. Founded in 1768, it has a unique position as an independent, privately funded institution led by eminent artists and architects. Its purpo ...
in 1869–70. After his death she presented the
British Museum with four of his drawings (and an etching "The king drinks"), which complements the dozens of prints made after his work housed there, especially by
Frederick Stacpoole
Frederick Stacpoole (1813 – 19 December 1907 London) was a British engraver, who produced reproductions of some of the most popular paintings of the Victorian period.
Life
He was apparently son of Edmund Stacpoole, lieutenant R.N., whose ...
and
William Henry Simmons
William Henry Simmons (11 June 1811 – 10 June 1882 London) was a United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, British printmaker.
Life
Simmons became a pupil of William Finden, the Line engraving, line engraver, but eventually he almost ent ...
. The artist and his wife had seven children; five sons and two daughters. One of the sons,
Hugh Goldwin Rivière (1869–1956), became a portraitist; another son (Evelyn) married the eminent psychoanalyst and translator of Sigmund Freud known as
Joan Riviere.
Works
Paintings by Rivière are held by public institutions including the
Tate,
Metropolitan Museum of Art,
Royal Holloway, University of London
Royal Holloway, University of London (RHUL), formally incorporated as Royal Holloway and Bedford New College, is a public research university and a constituent college of the federal University of London. It has six schools, 21 academic departm ...
and Chrysler Museum of Art.
These include:
*''Argus'' (1873)
*''War Time'' (1874)
*''Sympathy'' (c.1878)
*'' 'There's many a slip twixt the cup and the lip' ''(1881)
[Frederick Smallfield, his sale, Christie's, London, 27 March 1896, lot 141.]
References
Sources
*
Armstrong, Sir Walter (1891). ''Briton Rivière, R.A; His Life and Work'', The Art Annual.
*
External links
*
*
Profile on Royal Academy of Arts Collections
{{DEFAULTSORT:Riviere
1840 births
1920 deaths
19th-century English painters
English male painters
20th-century English painters
Animal artists
People educated at Cheltenham College
Royal Academicians
19th-century English male artists
20th-century English male artists