Return from the Hills by Richard Ansdell (1815-1885) depicts two ghillies with their horses and a dog, pausing for refreshment at a mountain spring on their descent. Their hunting success is evident from the carcasses of two red deer stags draped over the horses. Painted in the mid-nineteenth century, this work reflects the era’s growing fascination with romanticised depictions of Scottish subjects and the Highlands, greatly influenced by Queen Victoria’s increasing affection for the region. Her admiration sparked a broader fascination with Highland imagery and sporting scenes in Victorian society, offering a striking contrast to the industrialisation unfolding across much of the British Isles. Ansdell’s Return from the Hills embodies the archetype of the rugged Highlander - an individual deeply connected to the surrounding landscape, imbued with noble and romantic connotations. Sir Edwin Landseer is most often associated with this kind of portrayal of the Highlands, and his work notably influenced Ansdell. Ansdell himself became renowned as one of the most celebrated painters of Highland scenes and subjects.

Richard Ansdell RA, 1815-1885

Born in Liverpool and initially educated at The Liverpool Blue Coat School for orphans, Richard Ansdell showed an early aptitude for painting. In 1835, after training as an apprentice silhouettist with the Liverpudlian profile and portrait painter W C Smith, Ansdell had his first exhibition at the Liverpool Academy, enrolling as a student at the institution a year later. Soon after, he began exhibiting his paintings annually at the Royal Academy until 1885, with a total of a 149 of his pictures cladding the academy's walls during this period. In 1847, he moved from Liverpool to Kesington in London with his wife Maria Romer, with whom he was to have 11 children. There, they built a house named "Lytham House," named after the town Lytham in Lancashire, which Ansdell adored. A district in the borough Fylde, where Lytham St Annes is located, is named after him. He also later built a house, Moy Lodge, in Scotland near Loch Laggan. The location of this house propelled him to increasingly depict Scottish animal subjects, especially the sheep roaming around the estate. 

Generally, Ansdell's works mainly featured sporting and rural scenes as well as animal subjects, a choice which afforded him considerable commercial success with his wealthy clients from the landed gentry and industrialists. He is known to be one of the most accomplished Victorian sporting artists, having worked on large-scale collaborations with artists like Thomas Creswick (1811-1869) and William Powell Frith (1819-1909) and displaying particular talent in his intricate portrayals of animals. Two of his most well-known paintings are The Combat and The Fight for the Standard at the Battle of Waterloo. Both garnered him particular popularity during his lifetime, and the latter now hangs at Edinburgh Castle. He also travelled, first briefly visiting Holland during his younger years and, in 1857, embarking on a visit to Spain with fellow artist John Phillip (1817-1867), where the two sought to capture the vividness of the Southern Spanish landscape and culture. He died in 1885 at Collingwood Tower near Frimley in Surrey.