John Frederick Herring Jr

John Frederick Herring Jr. was an English artist, known for his paintings of horses and other animals in pastoral landscapes.

Herring was born in Doncaster, England in c.1820. 

His father, John Frederick Herring Sr. (1795–1865), worked as a sign painter and coach driver. Herring Sr.’s love of painting, and his skill, led to his being commissioned by racehorse owners in Doncaster, known for its large racecourse, to paint their horses. Herring Sr’s success eventually to commissions from then ruling Queen Victoria, who remained his patron for the rest of his life.

John Frederick Herring Jr. had two brothers and two sisters. The three brothers were painters, who worked in the same style as their father. The two sisters each married painters.

Herring Jr. married artist Kate Rolfe, sister of artist Alexander Rolfe, with whom Herring Jr. often collaborated.

In 1836 Herring Sr. began to sign his paintings with ‘SR’ after his name, to distinguish his works from that of his son, whose popularity had grown.

John Frederick Herring Jr. died on March 9, 1907 at his home in Cambridgeshire England.

Between 1860 and 1874, he exhibited 53 works at the Royal Society of British Artists, 15 at the Royal Academy and ten at the British Institution. Many of his works were reproduced in The Sporting Magazine, the first English periodical devoted to sports. The works of John Frederick Herring Jr. can be found in the Tate and other major venues around the world.