Arthur John Elsley (1860-1952)

Hold Up/Here He Comes is full of anticipation and fun, and encapsulates the very best features of the artist's work. It is a celebration of what a contemporary review termed 'these bright scenes of childhood. He knows all the ingredients that compose the children's paradise'.

Born in 1860, the son of coachman, Elsley joined the South Kensington School of Art at the age of fourteen. In 1876 he became a probationer at the Royal Academy Schools, and submitted his first exhibit to the Royal Academy in 1878. By 1887 he was sharing a studio at 151 Gloucester Road, Kensington, with George Greville Manton, who later introduced Elsley to Fred Morgan (see lot 40). Elsley was to paint the animals in Morgan's pictures in succession to Allen Sealey. Following the death of Charles Burton Barber in 1894, he was considered the foremost painter of animals and children in the country. In 1900, following an estrangement with Morgan, who accused him of stealing ideas for pictures, Elsley started to execute works on a grander scale. He continued to exhibit at the Royal Academy until 1917, but thereafter painted less and less, owing to failing eyesight.

We are grateful to Terry Parker for his help in preparing this catalogue entry.