Original works of art

Born the son of a painter and apprenticed to a cabinetmaker, Couldery soon realised his true vocation when, at the age of twenty-five, he entered the Royal Academy Schools.

Known predominately as a painter of cats and dogs, his work is tightly painted with great attention to detail. Indeed, in 1875 he attracted the attention of the art critic John Ruskin, who in his Academy Notes commented that one of his paintings was 'quite the most skilful piece of minute and Dureresque painting in the exhibition.'

Couldery exhibited some twenty works at the Royal Academy, and although many know him for his very sensitive portrayals of cats, his dogs are painted equally well, with a great attention to expression and coat texture. He lived at Sydenham, on the outskirts of London.