George Earl, an avid sportsman and noted sporting painter, was his daughter’s first teacher and ensured she studied the anatomy of her subjects, drawing dog, horse and human skeletons to improve her skill.

Earl became famous during the Victorian Era, a time when women were not expected to make their living at painting.

[1] By this time her work had received wide international recognition and her popular images were published in a number of books and in print form.

Her earlier dog portraits, painted between 1880 and 1900, display a rich, naturalistic style.

Earl entered what she called her oriental style during her first few years in the United States.