George Cattermole

George Cattermole (10 August 1800 – 24 July 1868) was a British painter and illustrator, chiefly in watercolours. Unusually for watercolourists of the period, most of his paintings are figure scenes, often interiors with a crowd of figures, illustrating scenes from history or literature, or just genre scenes in historical costume. He was a friend of Charles Dickens and many other literary and artistic figures.

After early success in his career, there was something of a crisis in the 1850s, when he largely gave up watercolours, and mostly failed to make an impact painting in oils. His health caused him problems, and he was greatly affected by the early deaths of two of his children in 1862 and 1863. His family contained many artists. His elder brother Richard (1795 - 1858) began as an artist, mostly drawing churches for architectural books and prints, before becoming a clergyman in his mid-thirties. He wrote books, including histories that George illustrated. Richard's son Charles Cattermole RI (1832-1900) painted similar subjects to his uncle George, especially of the English Civil War, and in a fairly similar style. Three of George's sons were also artists. The eldest, Ernest George (1841-1863) died young after joining the Indian Army. Leonardo Foster George Cattermole (1843-1895) assisted his father, and was especially good at horses. The youngest, Sidney William George Cattermole (1858-1915) mostly painted animals, especially dogs.