Original works of art

Basil Bradley was the second son of William Bradley (1801-1857) of Manchester, a portrait, miniature and animal painter and teacher of drawing. He was educated at the Manchester School of Art (1859-1860) although he described himself as being "self-taught in every way".

At the age of fifteen he was an assistant photographer, at 18 an assistant portrait painter, and at nineteen became an artist. He was a landscape, genre and animal painter with dogs as a popular subject. He was chief equestrian artist to the Graphic magazine in 1869 and also worked for other magazines. He was especially noted for his fine detailed water colors. He became ARWS in 1868 and Royal Watercolor Society in 1881.