Horse In A Landscape Poster

John Frederick Herring [British Painter, 1795-1865] John Frederick Herring was a painter, sign maker, and coachman in Victorian England. J.F. Herring, born in London, was the son of a London merchant of Dutch parentage, who had been born overseas in America. The first eighteen years of Herring's life were spent in London, England, where his greatest interests were drawing and horses. In the year 1814, at the age of 18, he moved to Doncaster in the north of England, arriving in time to witness the Duke of Hamilton's "William" win the St. Leger Stakes horserace. By 1815, Herring had married Ann Harris; his sons John Frederick Herring Junior, Charles Herring, and Benjamin Herring were all to become artists, while his two daughters, Ann and Emma, both married painters. In Doncaster, England, John Frederick Herring, Sr. was employed as a painter of inn signs and coach insignia on the sides of coaches, and his later contact with a firm owned by a Mr. Wood led to Herring's subsequent employment as a night coach driver. J.F. Herring, Sr. spent his spare time painting portraits of horses for inn parlours, and he became known as the "artist coachman" (at the time). Herring's talent was recognized by wealthy customers, and he began painting hunters and racehorses for the gentry.