William Henry Trood was a painter and sculpture who specialized in painting dogs. His work is characterized by a highly finished, sympathetic quality with great attention to detail, yet it is rarely sentimental. From his youth Trood lived and studied dogs. Trood said: "I have painted them since I was four years old, but not until I was twenty could I paint one properly."

At one time he kept a menageries in the back garden of his Chelsea studio until the neighbors complained of the noise. Afterwards he kept a fox, a badger and an otter running loose in his room with his dogs. He once tried hypnotism on a dog to try and keep it to stay still but its eyes looked unnatural.

Trood exhibited regularly in England but mainly at the Royal Academy from 1879 to 1898. He also exhibited at Suffolk Street, the New Watercolour Society, Grosvenor Gallery and elsewhere."

Trood's life and career coincided with the surge in popularity of Dog painting fueled by Queen Victoria's interest (she had many of her dogs painted and owned over seventy at the time of her death) and the increasing fondness towards having dogs as pets. Breeding was also becoming an ever more serious pastime, and Cruft's first dog show was held in London in 1886. It became ever more desirable to have one's dog painted, and Trood's ability to portray the affection in which many people held their pets led to an extremely successful career.

William Hamilton Trood has been regarded as one of the most revered dog painters of this time.

Source:
"William Henry Hamilton Trood," Victorian Artists, Web, Jan. 2017

It has been a popular week for man's best friend in New York and at Bonhams. The doggie-centric week kicked off this past Sunday with Barkfest, a doggy brunch and art preview hosted at Bonhams along with the American Kennel Club©. After the Westminster Kennel Club dog show judging Tuesday night, attention moved to the Bonhams annual Dogs in Show & Field: The Fine Art Sale. The auction room was filled with avid canine art collectors vying for their favorite breed. Strong bidding went beyond New York with active online and phone bidding from a global audience.

Alan Fausel, Bonhams Vice President and Director of Fine Art, states about the sale, "This was the best Dogs in Show & Field sale we have had in years and I am delighted with the results. The dog art market is certainly turning a corner."

Consummate canine artist William Henry Hamilton Trood broke two world records in the sale. Déjeuner was his first work up for auction in the sale and it quickly smashed its pre-sale estimate of $50,000-70,000, ultimately claiming $194,500, a new world record for the artist. But, an hour later, the newly established record was surpassed by Hounds in a Kennel, one of the most exquisite paintings in the sale, which sold for $212,500 (pre-sale est. $60,000-80,000).

Most of the top ten lots of the sale came from the Sporting section, including three paintings by a leading American painter of hunting dogs, Percival Leonard Rosseau. His English Setters on Point sold for $74,500 (pre-sale est. $40,000-60,000); his Three Hunting Dogs Stalking Game sold for $37,500 (pre-sale est. $25,000-35,000); and his A Setter and a Pointer on a Riverbank sold for $37,500 (pre-sale $30,000-50,000).



Auction: Dogs in Show & Field, Feb. 12, 2012