Original works of art

Michael Lyne was born in Upton Bishop, Hereford, the third son of reverend and Mrs. Lyne and the great-grandson of the sculptor John Bacon, RA (1740-1799). He was educated at Rossall and later at the Cheltenham Art School. He was always, however, interested in the sporting life and gravitated toward depicting fox-hunting scenes, racing and portraits of horses. He was encouraged in this pursuit, and became a successful sporting artist. He had several exhibitions, both in England and the United States, where he made several working trips. He also wrote and illustrated several books, including Stella A. Walker and Reggie Summerhays’ book “The Controversial Horse,” in 1965, “Bay de Courcy Parry’s “Here Lies my Story,” and in 1973, Daphne Moore’s “In Nimrod’s Footsteps.” He also published his own book, “From Litter to Later On.”

After a foxhunting accident ending his hunting career, he acquired the foundation stock of the Dunfield Salukis, descendants of the coursing saluki, “Knightellington Eshmail”. He took up breeding and coursing. He developed a breeding program and coursed his hounds, but he also showed them at the Crufts dog Show, with some success. He also produced an entire range of paintings on the sport, mostly depicting dogs running, and he did a set of small bronzes, depicting a brace of greyhounds and a hare.