John Wootton

John Wootton (ca.1682 -1764) was an English painter of sporting subjects, battle scenes and landscapes. Born in Snitterfield, Warwickshire (near Stratford-upon-Avon), he is best remembered as a pioneer in the painting of sporting subjects – together with Peter Tillemans and James Seymour – and was considered the finest practitioner of the genre in his day. As such, his paintings were very fashionable and were sought after by those among the highest strata of the British society. These included figures such as George II of England, Frederick, Prince of Wales, and the Duke of Marlborough. He is now some what eclipsed in the field of animal paintings by the later George Stubbs (1724-1806), who is considered technically superior. John Wootton died in London on November 13, 1764. Examples of his animal painting can be found in the Tate Gallery, London, the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, Richmond, the Yale Center for British Art, and in the Elizabethan Great Hall at Longleat.