Arthur Wardle (British, 1864–1949)
A Tiger Fighting a Crocodile
Oil on canvas, 40 1/4 x 60 1/4 in.
DM578

Although Wardle received no systematic or academic training as an artist, he was regarded as one of England’s most highly accomplished animal painters of his time. While he depicted a broad range of animals in the British sporting tradition, such as dogs and horses, Wardle also particularly favored exotic feline subjects. Both pictures in the Dahesh Museum’s collection show tigers killing their prey. The artist strikingly captured the ferocious death struggle between a tiger and a crocodile, continuing a long tradition of depicting such picturesque savagery, comparable to the sculptures by Antoine Louis Barye.