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Heywood Hardy [1842-1933]- Riders on the Shore:- signed Heywood Hardy bottom right oil on canvas 48 x 66cm. *Provenance. With Sothebys Lot 85, 5th June 1996, sold for £9200 * Biography. Heywood Hardy [1843-1933] Painter and watercolourist of animals, hunting and sporting scenes, genre and portraiture. He popularised the genre piece in out of period (18th century) costume giving a very romanticised view of his subject. Hardy was born in Chichester, West Sussex, a son of the artist James Hardy senior (1801-1879) and younger brother of the artist James Hardy Junior (1832-1889). He painted from an early age with the encouragement of his father and was at this time largely self taught, showing great skill at his craft and gaining commission work in some numbers. In 1864 he went to Paris to study at the Ecole des Beaux Arts. He remained for four years and on returning to London in 1864 he gained quick recognition for his preferred subjects and was employed by some of the large country estate owners to paint their horses and domestic animals. In 1870 he moved to St.John's Wood an area popular with fashionable artists of the time and wealthy patrons. His work was also popularised by his contributions to the Illustrated London News and Graphic magazine. In 1909 he moved to East Preston, Sussex where at the age of eighty three he was commissioned to paint eight panels for the famous Climping Church set high on the South Downs to commemorate it's 700th anniversary. These proved very controversial as they depicted Christ walking the Downs with local village inhabitants in a very modern setting. They can be seen to this day within this delightful church. Hardy exhibited frequently at the Royal Academy, the R.O.I. and the Royal Society of Portrait Painters.