Briton Rivière was an artist

Artist

An artist is a person engaged in one or more of any of a broad spectrum of activities related to creating art, practicing the arts and/or demonstrating an art. The common usage in both everyday speech and academic discourse is a practitioner in the visual arts only...

 born in London

London

London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...

, England

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

, of Hugenout descent.

His father, William Rivière, was for some years drawing-master at Cheltenham College

Cheltenham College

Cheltenham College is a co-educational independent school, located in Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, England.One of the public schools of the Victorian period, it was opened in July 1841. An Anglican foundation, it is known for its classical, military and sporting traditions.The 1893 book Great...

, and afterwards an art teacher at Oxford University

University of Oxford

The University of Oxford is a university located in Oxford, United Kingdom. It is the second-oldest surviving university in the world and the oldest in the English-speaking world. Although its exact date of foundation is unclear, there is evidence of teaching as far back as 1096...

. He was educated at Cheltenham College and at Oxford, where he took his degree in 1867. For his art training he was indebted almost entirely to his father, and early in life made for himself a place of importance among the artists of his time.

His first pictures appeared at the British Institution

British Institution

The British Institution was a private 19th-century society in London formed to exhibit the works of living and dead artists; it was also known as the Pall Mall Picture Galleries or the British Gallery...

, and in 1857 he exhibited three works at the Royal Academy

Royal Academy

The Royal Academy of Arts is an art institution based in Burlington House on Piccadilly, London. The Royal Academy of Arts has a unique position in being an independent, privately funded institution led by eminent artists and architects whose purpose is to promote the creation, enjoyment and...

, but it was not until 1863 that he became a regular contributor to the Academy exhibitions. In that year he was represented by "The Eve of the Spanish Armada

Spanish Armada

This article refers to the Battle of Gravelines, for the modern navy of Spain, see Spanish NavyThe Spanish Armada was the Spanish fleet that sailed against England under the command of the Duke of Medina Sidonia in 1588, with the intention of overthrowing Elizabeth I of England to stop English...

", and in 1864 by a "Romeo and Juliet

Romeo and Juliet

Romeo and Juliet is a tragedy written early in the career of playwright William Shakespeare about two young star-crossed lovers whose deaths ultimately unite their feuding families. It was among Shakespeare's most popular archetypal stories of young, teenage lovers.Romeo and Juliet belongs to a...

". Subjects of this kind did not, however, attract him long, for in 1865 he began, with a picture of a "Sleeping Deer-hound", a series of paintings of animal-subjects which later occupied him almost exclusively.

Among the most memorable of his productions are:

• The Poachers Nurse A (1866)
• The Empty Chair (1869)
• Circe (1871)
• Daniel (1872)
• The Last of the Garrison (1875)
• Lazarus (1877)
• Persepolis (1878)
• In Manus Tuas, Domine (1879)
• The Magician's Doorway (1882)
• Vae Victis (1885)
• Rizpah (1886)
• An Old-Work, Wanderer(1887)
• Of a Fool and his Folly there is no End (1889)
• A Mighty Hunter before the Lord (1891; untraced)
• The King's Libation (1893)
• Beyond Man's Footsteps (1894; Tate, London)
• Phoebus Apollo (1895)
• Aggravation (1896)
• St George (1900)
• To the Hills (1901)
• Aphrodite (1902)

He also painted portraits, most notably of his brother in law, Sydney Thompson Dobell

Sydney Thompson Dobell

Sydney Thompson Dobell , English poet and critic, was born at Cranbrook, Kent.His father was a wine merchant, his mother a daughter of Samuel Thompson , a London political reformer. The family moved to Cheltenham when Dobell was twelve years old. He was educated privately, and never attended either...

, the poet and breeder of deerhounds. A pencil sketch of Sydney Dobell by him is in the National Portrait Gallery. Sydney Dobell's deerhounds appeared in several of his works, notably "The Empty Chair" of 1869. A bloodhound

Bloodhound

The Bloodhound is a large breed of dog which, while originally bred to hunt deer and wild boar, was later bred specifically to track human beings. It is a scenthound, tracking by smell, as opposed to a sighthound, which tracks using vision. It is famed for its ability to discern human odors even...

 figures in "Requiescat", "The Last of the Garrison" and "Naughty Boy or Compulsory Education" (1909), which was used by Pears Soap

Pears soap

Pears transparent soap is a brand of soap first produced and sold in 1789 by Andrew Pears at a factory just off Oxford Street in London, England. It was the world's first transparent soap. Under the stewardship of Thomas J. Barratt, A. & F. Pears Ltd. company initiated a number of innovations in...

 in the sequence of promotional pictures begun with Millais' "Bubbles". Early in his career, he made some mark as an illustrator, beginning with Punch. He was elected an Associate of the Royal Academy

Royal Academy

The Royal Academy of Arts is an art institution based in Burlington House on Piccadilly, London. The Royal Academy of Arts has a unique position in being an independent, privately funded institution led by eminent artists and architects whose purpose is to promote the creation, enjoyment and...

 in 1878, and R.A. in 1881, and received the degree of DCL

Doctor of Civil Law

Doctor of Civil Law is a degree offered by some universities, such as the University of Oxford, instead of the more common Doctor of Laws degrees....

 at Oxford in 1891. He was only narrowly defeated in the election for President of the Royal Academy in 1896.

See Sir Walter Armstrong, Briton Rivière, R.A; His Life and Work, The Art Annual (1891).
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