George Cole. George Cole was an English painter known for his landscapes and animal paintings.
Cole was born in Portsmouth to James and Elizabeth Cole. His mother died when he was 9 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 recognised 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. By 1850 Cole had begun to concentrate on landscape, drawing on Dutch precedents for compositions such as Lon
Cole was born in Portsmouth to James and Elizabeth Cole. His mother died when he was 9 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 recognised 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. By 1850 Cole had begun to concentrate on landscape, drawing on Dutch precedents for compositions such as Lon
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