Considered one of England’s finest genre and animal painters, Charles Burton Barber (1845-1894) was to achieve great success during his lifetime. By the age of 18, Barber was in London studying at the Academy Schools. In 1864 he obtained a silver medal for drawing from the antique and in 1866 he exhibited his first work at the Royal Academy (RA) while living in Notting Hill.

Barber became a highly sought after artist and in the early 1870’s Queen Victoria commissioned him to paint her favorite dogs.

Many of Barber’s paintings were engraved and he was a frequent exhibitor at the Royal Academy; Royal Institute of Oil Painters; Walker Art Gallery; Manchester City Art Gallery and the Fine Art Society.