
Leo Webster
Senior Specialist
£1,200 - £1,800
Senior Specialist
Sale Coordinator
Bridget Olerenshaw was commissioned by Country Life to paint the front covers for several Crufts editions of their magazine, and in 1963 she illustrated the 'Country Life Book of Dogs' by Sonia M Lampson. The combined work of an expert author and talented artist, on each left-hand page of the book is the history and characteristics of over 90 breeds, all of which appear on the Kennel Club register. Facing these histories on the right-hand pages are brilliant sketches, giving in each case a head of the dog and 2 or 3 impressions of an individual in typical attitudes.
Olerenshaw also provided some illustrations for the book 'The Complete Great Pyrenees' published in the USA by Howells, and her drawings, to accompany the breed standard, were used by Foyles in their handbook. She was an Honorary member of the Pyrenean Mountain Dog Club of Great Britain. Over the years she probably painted more Pyreneans than any other breed.
As well as local galleries in her own area, exhibitions of Olerenshaw's work were also seen at Crufts and at the Tryon Gallery in London. Sadly, she lost her fight against cancer on 30 October 1989, at the time she was one of the top canine artists in the country and had been dubbed the next Maud Earl.