Medium: oil
Exhibited: Royal Academy, 1874
London society: an illustrated magazine of light and amusing literature for the hours of relaxation, April 1874
Always original, Mr. Eyre Crowe has found some of his inspirations amongst the Lancashire operatives, and in the small and carefully-painted heads to be seen in his picture of a courtyard in a factory during dinner-time there will be discovered as much expression and truth of character as in any delineated upon a much larger scale; whilst in his ‘Kennel of Fox-hounds’ he exhibits an equal and unexpected knowledge of dog nature. His ‘Howard amongst the Galley-slaves,’ a year or two ago, could have given no promise of these darlings of the Essex Hunt; and though I profess to no opinions of my own, it always seems to me that it is only genius which can successfully venture upon so wide a range of subjects. I think, too, I like not to know what I am always to expect from this or that painter; there is a pleasure in surprise.
Athenaeum, 2 May 1874:
Among the most spirited pictures of the season is Mr. Eyre Crowe’s Foxhounds in Kennel (1045): so finely and solidly painted, and so wealthy a study of character, that Hogarth would not have been ashamed to call it his own.
Daily Telegraph, 5 May 1874:
…from the hand which painted, the poor folks who stood weeping at the door of those Temple chambers in which Oliver Goldsmith was lying dead, we are entitled to expect works of a more ambitious character than “spoil-banks” and operatives’ dinner-hours; or than (1,045) “Foxhounds in Kennel”, an astonishing piece of verisimilitude, and we hope a commission from some M.F.H. Beyond the momentary admiration awaked by the inspection of so many lop-ears and upturned tails, the last-named contribution of Mr. Eyre Crowe to the Exhibition will not interest many persons who are not fox-hunters.
Fun, 23 May 1874:
Have you seen Mr. Eyre Crowe’s pictures yet of the “Spoil Bank,”, the “Dinner Hour, Wigan,” and the “Foxhounds in Kennel?” With respect to the last-named word, an asinine critic (Squibob, I suspect), in one of the pretentious dailies, observed that Mr. Crowe’s kennel presents “a vast area of upturned tails.” There does not happen to be a single tail, either in a prone, a supine, or a gyrating attitude visible in the whole clever picture. I much like the solemn appearance of the animals, which look as demure as though they were attending Cathedral service in some “Aisle of Dogs.” I should like Mr. Crowe to make some more sketches in the vicinity of Barking Creek.
The Graphic, 6 June 1874
“Foxhounds in Kennel”, by the same hand, is an admirable study of animal life, perfectly true to nature and executed with most commendable care.
Eyre Crowe (1824-1910) 