Girl Reading beside a Dog

As a young man, Riviere came under the influence of the Pre-Raphaelites and Millais. But after his promising start, success proved elusive, and he had to diversify by taking on illustrative work — not that this was necessarily a step down, since so many important artists at this time were producing illustrations. However, in his case it included making decorative initials for Punch, which was perhaps not what he had expected to be doing. Applying himself to animal painting, and studying with the Scottish painters John Pettie and Sir William Quiller Orchardson, both helped him to firmer ground: "A sequence of animal paintings exhibited at the Royal Academy assured his growing fame" (Reynolds), particularly because they were often engraved. In 1878 he was elected Associate of the Royal Academy, and in 1880 became a full Academician. After Millais' death in 1896, he only just missed being voted president of the Academy (Sir Edward Poynter won the vote by a narrow margin), although, as Simon Reynolds points out, this was an honour that he would probably not have enjoyed, since he was of "retiring disposition." The same point was made in his Times obituary. Later on, too, his failing eyesight would have been a problem.

As an animal-painter, Riviere "tended to imbue his animals with para-human character", and did not always escape sentimentality — although he could be humorous as well. While animals did generally feature in his works, his skills were not at all limited to them. At his best, he could produce "a most happy combination of classic lore and animal painting" (Fenn 145), and in later years he became interested in the idea of evolution and was drawn to create wild landscapes like Beyond Man's Footsteps, very different from his popular scenes of children with their pets.

poster size height 50cm x width 40cm