John Frederick Herring JnrBritish, (c1820-1907)Farmyard FriendsOil on canvas, signed Image size: 23.25 inches x 35.25 inches Size including frame: 29.75 inches x 41.75 inchesProvenance: Frost & Reed; E. Stacey Marks, EastbourneA fantastic rural farmyard scene featuring horses, pigs, goats, chickens, ducks and cattle by John Frederick Herring Jnr. In the foreground, pigs, goats and chickens are shown foraging for food whilst horses watch on. To the right, a bay horse drinks from a pond next to some ducks as cattle graze outside a barn. In the distance two figures can be seen walking along a country path towards a church.John Frederick Herring was born in Doncaster c1820 to the artist John Frederick Herring (1795-1865) and his wife Anna Catharina (nee Harris) and was baptised on 2 May, 1821. There is some confusion about the date of his birth due to an earlier birth record existing for 21 June, 1815. To complicate matters further, all of the census records indicate he was born in 1816. Some sources suggest this was an earlier child who died and that Herring was the child born in 1820. Herring�s brothers Charles Herring (1828-1856) and Benjamin Herring (1830-1871) also became artists. He and his brothers were exposed to art at an early age and were all tutored by their father whose subject matter influenced their work. The family moved to Newmarket during the early 1830�s and Herring would visit the racecourse to study the horses. The brothers would often collaborate with their father on paintings, however, Herring Jnr soon developed his own style and began painting farmyard and rustic scenes featuring horses and other farm animals. His emerging success caused some discord with his father, who from around 1836 began adding �SR� or �Senr� to his signature to avoid confusion between the two artists. Herring did not join his father when he later moved to London but at some point moved to Cambridgeshire where he met and married Emma Jan...