George Cole was a portrait landscape and animal painter in oils. He was the father of George Vicat Cole. Cole was born in Portsmouth to James and Elizabeth Cole. His mother died when he was nine years old. According to the artist's grandson, Rex Vicat Cole, he was apprenticed to a ship's painter in the Royal Navy dockyards at Portsmouth. He taught himself to paint pictures, at first portraits and animals; he also painted posters for Wombwell's menagerie. In 1838, Cole's painting The Farm Yard was shown at the Society of British Artists. When he was 30, he changed his focus to landscapes and received instruction from John Wilson and started exhibiting in 1840. One anecdote has him painting the portrait of a Dutch merchant in Portsmouth. After the sitter refused to pay him, saying it was a bad likeness, Cole added wings and put the painting in a shop window with the title The Flying Dutchman. The man's friends recognized him and laughed; he paid for the painting and Cole painted out the wings. His career has been regarded as a good example of the Victorian self-made man. In 1831, he married Eliza Vicat, of an old French Huguenot family. In 1852, he moved to Fulham and in 1855 to Kensington, where he lived for the rest of his life. In the mid-1860s, he purchased Coombe Lodge, a small estate in Hampshire. In a series of richly colored and detailed landscapes on large canvases executed during the 1860s and 1870s, Cole created an idealized version of the Hampshire moorlands and agricultural landscape; examples include Fern Karting, Harting Coombe (1873, Russell-Cotes Art Gallery and Museum, Bournemouth). Cattle continued to play an important role in his compositions and he specialized in the depiction of river scenery with cows watering, including, for example, Windsor Castle. Although he exhibited 16 works at the Royal Academy, Cole's work formed a mainstay of the exhibitions of the Society of British Artists at Suffolk Street, where he exhibited 209 paintings from 1838 until he died in 1883. He was elected a member in 1850, became an auditor in 1856 and vice-president in 1867. He was also awarded a medal for a harvesting scene in 1864 by the Society for the Encouragement of the Fine Arts. George Cole died on 7 September 1883 at his home at 1 Kensington Crescent and was buried in Kensal Green Cemetery, London.
Fine Victorian British Oil Pastoral River Landscape Figures Under Dramatic Sky
By George Cole
Located in Cirencester, Gloucestershire
"Going to Market, Woking Common" Pastoral River Landscape with Figures Under a Dramatic Sky George Cole (British, 1810–1883), inscribed to the mount, seemingly unsigned Oil on canva...
Oil
$6,302Sale Price|20% Off
A Stream in the Forest - British Victorian 1859 art landscape oil painting
By George Cole
Located in Hagley, England
A fine and very detailed large Victorian British landscape painting. Painted in oil on canvas it is by listed and exhibited Victorian artist George Cole, dated 1859. A wonderful larg...
Oil
$22,953
19th Century landscape genre oil painting of farmworkers with horses & a dog
By George Cole
Located in Nr Broadway, Worcestershire
George Cole British, (1810-1883) Rick Making, Lunchtime Oil on canvas, signed & dated 1883 Image size: 23.5 inches x 35.5 inches Size including frame: 30.5 inches x 42.5 inches Prove...
Canvas, Oil
19th Century landscape genre oil painting of ploughmen with horses & a dog
By George Cole
Located in Nr Broadway, Worcestershire
George Cole British, (1810-1883) Waiting for a Treat Oil on canvas, signed & dated 1857 Image size: 19.5 inches x 29.5 inches Size including frame: 26.25 inches x 36.25 inches A cha...
Canvas, Oil
Cattle Drovers in a River Landscape
By George Cole
Located in Belgravia, London, London
Oil on canvas Canvas size: 14 x 21 inches Framed size: 18 x 25 inches Signed lower left
Canvas, Oil
$1,624Sale Price|20% Off
H 23 in W 30 in D 1 in
Sunset over Mountain Lakes Cattle Watering from Water Large Tranquil Oil Canvas
Located in Cirencester, Gloucestershire
English School, late 20th century oil on canvas, framed framed: 23 x 30 inches canvas: 16 x 24 inches provenance: private collection, England the painting is in overall very good and...
Canvas, Oil
$9,167
H 20.25 in W 26.25 in D 2.75 in
Historical genre oil painting of gentlemen playing bowls
By Frank Moss Bennett
Located in Nr Broadway, Worcestershire
Frank Moss Bennett British, (1874-1952) The Bowling Match Oil on canvas, signed & dated 1922, with original slip Image size: 13.5 inches x 19.5 inches Size including frame: 20.25 in...
Canvas, Oil
$4,753
H 20 in W 22.5 in D 3.5 in
Historical genre oil painting of two gentlemen sat in a garden
By Frank Moss Bennett
Located in Nr Broadway, Worcestershire
Frank Moss Bennett British, (1874-1952) In the Garden Oil on panel, signed & dated 1917 Image size: 11 inches x 13.5 inches Size including frame: 20 inches x 22.5 inches A charming genre scene of two gentlemen in 18th century costume in a garden by Frank Moss Bennett. The men are shown drinking wine and eating fruit at a linen covered table...
Oil, Panel
$2,450
H 25 in W 21 in
19th century English riverside landscape with, cows, river and people at Sunset
By Edwin Buttery
Located in Woodbury, CT
Late 19th century English landscape by Edwin Buttery. This exquisite late Victorian English landscape by Edwin Buttery is a masterful example of the period’s romanticized appreciatio...
Canvas, Oil
$38,806
H 33.5 in W 23.5 in
David with the Head of Goliath, 19th Century Victorian Oil
By John Rogers Herbert
Located in London, GB
John Rogers Herbert RA 1810- 1890 Oil on canvas, dated '1850' lower right on sword strap Image size: 33 ½ x 23 ½ inches Gilt Watts frame This striking painting, depicts David as a y...
Oil
In the Yellow Wood: Impressionist Oil Painting on Canvas, Framed
By Barnes
Located in Atlanta, GA
Born in the San Si Providence of China, Jang Jin Joong, known as his artist’s name Barnes, fell in love with art since he was a child. His passion for art continued into his pursuit ...
Canvas, Oil
Arabian Rider at Dusk
By Adolf Schreyer
Located in Austin, TX
Adolf Schreyer's "Arabian Rider at Dusk" is a stunning oil painting on canvas that depicts an Arabian rider in a golden sunset. By Adolf Schreyer 8.5" x 15.5" Oil on Canvas Framed...
Canvas, Oil
$2,650
H 16 in W 23 in
English 19th century Landscape with children on a pathway picking flowers
By Henry Hadfield Cubley
Located in Woodbury, CT
19th century English landscape of Children picking flowers in a field or meadow. Henry Hadfield Cubley was born in Newark, Nottinghamshire in 1858. Henry was the nephew of William C...
Canvas, Oil
$2,047Sale Price|20% Off
H 29.5 in W 41.5 in D 1 in
Loch Lomond Scottish Highlands Signed Oil Painting Listed British Artist
By Prudence Turner
Located in Cirencester, Gloucestershire
The Highland Loch (Loch Lomond) signed by Prudence Turner, British b. 1930, signed. oil painting on canvas, framed. framed: 29.5 x 41 inches canvas: 24 x 36 inches Provenance: pri...
Canvas, Oil
$2,173
H 26 in W 22 in D 2 in
In Glen Tilt, 19th-century British Landscape Oil Painting
By Charles Leslie
Located in Cheltenham, GB
This late 19th-century oil painting by British artist Charles Leslie (1839-1886) depicts Glen Tilt, one of Scotland's most celebrated Highland valleys. A solitary figure stands bes...
Canvas, Oil
$3,151Sale Price|20% Off
H 34 in W 32.5 in
Huge 1850's Irish Romantic Sunset Landscape over Lough Waters & Mountains
Located in Cirencester, Gloucestershire
The Irish Sunset Irish School, mid 19th century, circa 1850, unsigned oil on canvas, framed framed: 34 x 32.5 inches canvas: 28 x 26 inches provenance: private collection, UK conditi...
Oil, Canvas
$4,950
H 20 in W 28 in
The Farrier’s Visit, in a farmyard landscape early 20th century
Located in Woodbury, CT
Francis Mabel Hollams (1877–1963) The Farrier’s Visit, circa 1925 Oil on canvas, monogrammed lower right. Presented in its original gilt frame. Francis Mabel Hollams was one of Britain’s most accomplished painters of horses and domestic animals during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. A gifted sporting artist, she studied under the distinguished equestrian painter Lucy Kemp-Welch and went on to establish a successful career exhibiting at London’s foremost institutions, including the Royal Academy, the Royal Institute of Oil Painters, the Royal Society of British Artists and the Walker Art Gallery in Liverpool. Her paintings are celebrated for their exceptional draughtsmanship, sensitive observation and genuine understanding of animal character, qualities that have secured her place among the finest female sporting artists of her generation. The Farrier’s Visit beautifully encapsulates the quiet rhythms of rural England during the years when the working horse remained indispensable to everyday agricultural life. Hollams depicts a magnificent grey Shire horse standing patiently outside a traditional brick stable as the village farrier carefully replaces one of its shoes. The scene is entirely unforced and deeply authentic, celebrating the mutual trust between horse and craftsman, a relationship forged through generations of skilled husbandry. The monumental presence of the Shire horse dominates the composition, yet Hollams avoids sentimentality, instead conveying its immense strength through calm composure and gentle dignity. Every detail, from the worn leather harness to the weathered stable doors and simple blacksmith’s tools...
Canvas, Oil
George Cole - 19th Century Oil, Bridge to the Church
By George Cole
Located in Corsham, GB
This pastoral landscape painting depicts a serene countryside scene featuring a winding river that flows beneath a stone bridge, with a rustic village nestled among rolling hills and...
Oil
Sold
H 27 in W 37 in D 3 in
Harvesting in Surrey - Large 19th Century Oil Painting English Sunset Landscape
By George Cole
Located in Gerrards Cross, GB
‘Harvesting in Surrey’ by George Cole RBA (1810-1883). The painting is signed by the artist and dated 1864 in which year it was exhibited at the Royal Society of British Artists in London...
Oil
Sold
H 32 in W 44 in D 4 in
The Lake District - Large 19th Century English Sunset Landscape Painting
By George Cole
Located in Gerrards Cross, GB
‘Thirlmere and Helvellyn from Raven Crag’ by George Cole RBA (1810-1883). The painting – which depicts Thirlmere lake in Cumbria prior its damming, with the mountain of Helvellyn in ...
Oil
Sold
H 42 in W 55 in D 4 in
Langdale, Westmorland - Huge 19th Century Oil Painting Royal Academy Landscape
By George Cole
Located in Gerrards Cross, GB
‘Langdale, Westmorland’ by George Cole (1810-1883). This very large fine oil on canvas of a waterfall in the Lake District of England is signed and dated by the artist and was exhibited at the Royal Society of British Artists in 1879. Academy Fine Paintings only offers artwork for sale in the finest condition it can be for its age, having been professionally cleaned, conserved, and re-varnished. Clients should also note that tracked and signed for international shipping is complimentary. George Cole was one of Victorian Britain’s most successful landscape painters, although the majority of his early work comprised animal portraits. Cole’s first important patron was the British Prime Minister, Sir Robert Peel...
Oil
Sold
H 18 in W 18 in
19th century English landscape oil of figures on a path and sheep
By George Cole
Located in Woodbury, CT
Victorian 19th century English landscape oil of figures on a path and sheep George Cole was a painter of portraits, landscapes, and animals. Cole was self-taught and began his care...
Oil, Canvas