A Famous Newfoundland Dog
by
Charles Howard Hodges
Hodges (1764 - 1837) was an English portrait painter and engraver who spent most of his adult life in the Netherlands; he is sometimes confused with his identically named father, also a portrait painter. Hodges was known primarily for his mezzotint engravings, a style of printmaking which was at the peak of its popularity during his lifetime. The image above is of his hand-painted mezzotint of a painting by Henry Chalon. This work sold at auction at Sotheby's in 2019 for $3,750 US.
The source of this print is an 1805 (?) painting by Henry Barnard Chalon (1770 - 1849) — his middle name is often misspelled "Bernard" — who was an English painter (his parents were Dutch, and he was born in Amsterdam) known primarily for his horse and, to a somewhat lesser extent, dog paintings. In 1795 he was appointed Animal Painter to Frederica, the Dutchess of York — who is pictured with her Newfoundland in this painting, though it was painted by someone else. Chalon later held the same official "animal painter" position with the Prince Regent (later King George IV) and George's successor, William IV.
It is also known that Chalon exhibited a painting entitled "Newfoundland Dog" at the 1831 Royal Academy Exhibition (Sporting Magazine, June 1831).
Chalon's painting was engraved by other artists, including James Hodges, son of the Charles Howard Hodges who created the mezzotint just above. Here's the kid's work:
Another is a mezzotint by the English engraver and printmaker Charles Turner (1774-1857):
