African panthers
(1891)

John Macallan SWAN

Medium: oil on canvas
Measurements: 35.6 × 61.4 cm
Inscription: inscribed in black paint l.l.: J. M. SWAN
Accession Number: p.397.4-1
Department: International Painting
Credit Line: National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne
Purchased, 1892
This digital record has been made available on NGV Collection Online through the generous support of Digitisation Champion Ms Carol Grigor through Metal Manufactures Limited
Gallery location: 19th Century European Paintings Gallery
Level 2, NGV International
About this work: African animals were considered exotic in the nineteenth century, and paintings of wild animals were very popular. With many artists practising in this area, it took a great deal of skill to gain prominence, and John Macallan Swan earned a reputation as one of the best animal painters in Britain. Swan had refined his craft in Paris, studying under the two greatest animalier sculptors of the time, Emmanuel Frémiet and Antoine-Louis Barye, who both feature in this room.
Subjects (general): Animals
Subjects (specific): Africa (continent) big cats hunting leopard (species) observation
Provenance: Exhibited Royal Academy, London, 1891, no. 110; with Goupil & Cie. (also Boussod, Valadon & Co.) (dealer), London, January 1892, no. 22001 (PI no. G-32249); from where purchased, on the advice of Hubert Herkomer, for the NGV, 25 January 1892.
Royal Academy, London, 1891, no. 110

Colourmen