PAINTING PALACE
Source Supplier of Oil Paintings

Richard Ansdell lived in his hometown Liverpool until the late 1840s. At that time, Liverpool was a flourishing centre for art. The most remarkable thing about Ansdell was that he did not become seriously interested in art until he was 21 years old. In 1837 he was elected to the Liverpool Academy, and exhibited two works at the Royal Academy in London in 1840. The Liverpool Academy elected him president in 1845. Although he was so closely connected with Liverpool, his work was always very different from the then-current artists of that city.

His most famous work, "The Battle of the Standard", was exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1848. Its popularity encourged him to move to London. He lived in Kensington, as did most artists of the day, and often collaborated with other artists. Twice he travelled to Spain, and on returning painted many scenes he had sketched white there. These were to become some of his most cherished works. Ansdell was especially popular in the north of England, and frequently exhibited in Manchester, then, like Liverpool, a city known for art patronage.

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