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April 22nd, 2017 
Awake Goy 
Briton Rivière (1840 – 1920) was a British painter of Huguenot descent, best known for his animal paintings. Briton was primarily trained by his father William Rivière, who was art master at Cheltenham College before becoming art teacher at the University of Oxford, with Briton studying at both institutions. He also had an uncle named Parsons Rivière who was a successful watercolour artist.
His early work appeared at the British Institution and then he began to show at the Royal Academy. He had well-received paintings dealing with subjects such as the Spanish Armada and Romeo and Juliet, but he realized his passion was to paint animals. However, representing animals then was not as easy as it is today, with an internet full of photographs to quickly use for models. Rivière spoke in an interview in Chums Boys Annual about how he would paint animals:
I have always been a great lover of dogs but I have worked at them so much that I’ve grown tired of having them about me. However, you can never paint a dog unless you are fond of it. I never work from a dog without the assistance of a man who is well acquainted with animals….. Collies, I think, are the most restless dogs….greyhounds are also very restless, and so are fox terriers….. The only way to paint wild animals is to gradually accumulate a large number of studies and a great knowledge of the animal itself, before you can paint its picture…… I paint from dead animals as well as from live ones. I have had the body of a fine lioness in my studio….. I have done a great deal of work in the dissecting rooms at the Zoological Gardens from time to time.”
Rivière became a Royal Academician in 1881 and was almost elected president of the Academy in 1896. He was married to a painter, Mary Alice Rivière, who also briefly exhibited at the Royal Academy. They had seven children, one of whom became a portrait arist.
Source Article from http://www.renegadetribune.com/animal-paintings-briton-riviere/
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