Born in London, Arthuer Wardle was a painter from a very early age. Though he had no formal art training, Wardle benefited from his association with artists of the day, many of whom lived in his particular area of Chelsea. He became an outstanding animal painter, working in oil, pastel, and watercolor, best known for his popular, domestic pictures of dogs, although he also painted a variety of other domestic and wild animals.
In 1892, he moved to St. Johns Wood with his wife, most likely to be nearer to London Zoo, where he was often to be found sketching on-the-spot studies. During the 1920s, he is thought to have made several expeditions to Africa, India, and Southeast Asia.
In 1880, when he was only 16 years old, one of his animal paintings was accepted for exhibition at the Royal Academy, where he showed frequently until 1938. In 1910, he exhibited at the Liverpool Exhibition. He became a member of the Pastel Society in 1911, and a member of the Royal Institute of Painters in Watercolour in 1922. He held his first solo exhibition at the Fine Art Society in 1931. He also exhibited at the Society of British Artists in Suffolk Street and the New Watercolour Society, of which he was a member.
Examples of his work can be found in the collections of the Tate Gallery in London, as well as Leeds Museum.