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Richard Ansdell painted a wide range of animal subjects, sporting scenes and romantic narrative pictures. He was influenced by and rivalled Sir Edwin Landseer in the variety of his subject-matter and the detailed finish of his paintings, but he lacked Landseer's taste for the sentimental and dramatic.
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Born in Liverpool, Ansdell trained at the Liverpool Academy, where he was elected President in 1845. He moved to West Kensington in 1847, exhibiting at the Royal Academy from 1840-1885 and at the British Institution from 1846-1865.
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Ansdell collaborated with several artists during his career, including John Phillip, with whom he travelled in Spain in 1856; Thomas Creswick, and William Powell Frith, with whom he produced scenes of rural genre. Among Ansdell's most important patrons were the Earl of Sefton (for whom he painted The Waterloo Cup Coursing Meeting), the Earl of Derby, Earl Spencer and the Marquis of Bute.
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In 1861 Ansdell built a large house and studio called Starr Hills outside Lytham. During this period he also spent much time at a lodge on Loch Laggan where he painted many Highland scenes. Towards the end of his life he lived at Collingwood Tower, Farnborough, Hants, where he died in 1885.
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