After Cecil Aldin (1870-1935) British, Carved Painted Wood Panel. Original title: "Return From the Hunt." Personal letter dated '97 taped to back. Written on frame in pen: "Nita's Antique Shop Gizdich Ranch."
Overall: 19 X 33 1/2 in.
Sight: 11 X 26 in.
#3778 .
Cecil Charles Windsor Aldin was born on April 28th, 1870 in Slough, Berkshire, England. He was educated at Eastbourne College and Solihull Grammar School, and his father, a builder, was keen amateur artist who introduced him to drawing at a very young age. He studied art at the studio of Albert Joseph Moore in Kensington but, unhappy with the teaching methods, Aldin left after a month to study animal anatomy at the National Art Training School in South Kensington. After this he attended a summer school run by the animal painter and teacher William Frank Calderon at Midhurst, Sussex. Aldin left early when he developed rheumatic fever, but shortly afterwards sold his first drawing, which appeared in The Building News in 1890. This was followed by a dog show picture purchased by The Graphic in 1891 that provided him the means to rent a studio in Chelsea, and within a year he had begun a long-lasting association with The Illustrated London News. Whilst at Chelsea he would often draw in the London Zoological Gardens, and he also did some work for Cadbury's advertising. Aldin was commissioned by The Pall Mall Budget in 1894 to illustrate the serialization of stories from Rudyard Kipling's The Second Jungle Book. At the invitation of genre painter Walter Dendy Sadler he stayed at Chiddingstone where he made close friends with Phil May, John Hassall, Dudley Hardy, Tom Browne, and Lance Thackeray, and together they founded the London Sketch Club. The birth of his son and daughter inspired a series of nursery pictures that brought him much popularity, along with large sets of the Fallowfield Hunt, Bluemarket Races, Harefield Harriers, and Cottesbrook Hunt prints. He joined the Chelsea Arts Club and held his first exhibition in Paris in 1908. An exhibition in Paris in 1909 led to an invitation to illustrate the 1910 edition of Charles Dickens' The Pickwick Papers. Aldin moved to the Henley area as his interest in hunting, horses, and dogs increased, and in 1910 he became Master of the South Berkshire Hunt, as well as the warden of St. Mary's church. During World War I Aldin became a Purchasing Officer in charge of an Army Remount Depot. A number of other artists, including Lionel Edwards, Alfred Munnings, G.D. Armour, and Cedric Morris also worked in Remount Depots during the War, and Aldin created the first remount run entirely by women as there were not enough men left to do the work. The experience led him to become an advocate for women's rights, particularly in employment equality, and brought him to the attention of the Women's Work Sub-Committee of the newly formed Imperial War Museum who, in February 1919, sought to acquire his wartime paintings. Aldin lost his son Dudley at Vimy Ridge in 1917, which affected him deeply for the rest of his life and had a profound effect on his style. After the war he spent much of his time organizing pony and dog shows and continued to paint, often large equestrian portraits for numerous magazine and book illustrations. In 1930 Aldin retired to live in the Balearic Islands, hoping the warmer climate would ease his arthritis. He lived in Palma and elsewhere on Mallorca while continuing to paint and etch, producing some of his best known work, but while travelling back to England for a visit on January 6th, 1935 he suffered a heart attack at sea and died en route to the London Clinic.
