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.
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.
Eyre Crowe (1824-1910) 