John Henry Dolph (1835 to 1903)
Born in Fort Ann, New York, John Henry Dolph began his career as a portrait and landscape painter in Detroit during the 1850′s. But, he is best know for his masterful, and sometimes humorous, paintings of cats and dogs.
After five years of study abroad, Dolph’s artistic focus changed from people and landscapes to animals. Celebrated “Animalier” Louis Van Kuyek tutored Dolph for two years in Antwerp, and Dolph continued to explore the genre after moving to Paris. Dolph returned to New York City in the 1870′s, and from then on his only subjects were cats and dogs. Many of his works depict the comfortable existence of wealthy familys’ pets.
Dolph was made an associate of the National Academy of Design in 1877, became a member of the Society of American Artists in 1878, and in 1901, earned a bronze medal at the Pan-American Exposition in Buffalo, New York.
The University of Nebraska Art Collection houses the most extensive collection of Dolph’s works, along with the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts and the Sheldon Memorial Art Gallery.