Animalistic painting with horses and dog in the courtyard of a noble house was executed in 1864 by famous German-Russian horse, portrait and historical painter Carl Suhrland (1828 Ludwigslust - 1919 Kochel am See). in Russian: Карл Рудольфович Сурланд/Зурданд. Due to the dating of the painting and back inscription this work was executed by the artist in order of a nobleman during artist´s life in St. Petersburg, where he worked in order of Russian Royal House and nobility from 1861 - 1870s.

Carl Suhrlandt came from a family of painters in Mecklenburg and was the son of the Court painter Rudolph Suhrlandt and his wife , the lithographer Wilhelmine Suhrlandt ( 1803-1863 ) . The violinist and painter Pauline Soltau (1833-1902) was his sister .

He received his first drawing lessons with his father and studied sculpture at Christian Daniel Rauch in Berlin . In 1851 he went to Paris to study painting under Ary Scheffer . 1859-1860 he was in Copenhagen and 1861 in St. Petersburg , where he became a member of the Imperial Academy of Arts and range of Academician of battle painting for his works: " Horse on pasture", " Dog waiting" and " Arabian Horses". In 1868, the artist requested for Russian citizenship and the title of professor , but was refused because lived in Russia less than five years. (source: " List of Russian painters.To 250-year anniversary of St.Petersburg Art Academy" (in Russian), by S. N.Kondakov, Moscow, 2002).

Then he moved to Schwerin, where in 1874 he was appointed by Grand Duke Friedrich Franz II to Professor . In 1898 he lived in Munich . Except portraits and historical and battle works, he recieved acknowledge for his horse painting, also in England, where he lived and worked multiply.

Literature: In Russian: S.N.Kondakov"List of Russian painters. To 250-year anniversary of Fine Art Academy in St.Petersburg"; in internet: artinvestment.ru; in German: Thieme/Becker "Allgemeines Lexikon der bildenden Künsler..", Leipzig, 1999; Saur "General artist lexicon (AKL)"

Inscription: signed lower right, on the back of the panel - artist´s memory inscription with names of owner, his horses and dog and the name of the customer.

Technique: Oil on wood.Magnificent antique gold-plated wood frame.Measurements: unframed w 10 1/3" x h 12 1/4" (26,5 x 31 cm); framed w 17 3/4" x h 19 2/3" (45 x 50 cm).

Condition: in very good condition.

Biography in Russian (from artinvestment.ru):Зурланд, Карл Рудольфович Псевдонимы и варианты написания: Зурландт Сурланд Карл-Рудольф 1828-1919 ЗУРЛАНД Карл Рудольфович (Surlandt Karl) 1828 (Мекленбург-Шверин) — 1919 (Петроград (?)) Живописец, график Биографические сведения немногочисленны. Шведский подданный; учился во Франции у П. Делароша. Работал Германии и Дании (Копенгагене), с середины 1860-х — в Петербурге, в 1875, по-видимому, покинул Россию. Работал в области батальной и анималистической живописи; выполнял заказы императорского двора. С 1861 (по 1875, с перерывами) участвовал в выставках в залах ИАХ в Петербурге. В том же году был удостоен звания академика, а также избран почетным вольным общником ИАХ. В 1868 подал в Совет ИАХ ходатайство о присуждении звания профессора исторической живописи, но получил отказ. Произведения находятся в ряде музейных собраний, в частности в Музее коневодства при Российском Государственном Аграрном университете им. К. А. Тимирязева.