Ansdell, Richard Richard Ansdell (11 May 1815 - 20 April 1885) was an English oil painter of animals and genre scenes. He was also an engraver. Ansdell was born in Liverpool, Lancashire, the son of Thomas Griffiths Ansdell, a freeman who worked at the port, and Anne Jackson. His father died young and Richard was educated at the Bluecoat school for orphans. He had a natural talent for art from an early age, and after leaving school worked for a portrait painter in Chatham in Kent, and also spent time as a sign painter in Holland.