'Portrait of a Young Boy' Benjamin Marshall

Benjamin Marshall (1786 - 1835) was born in Seagrave, Leicestershire, UK to Charles and Elizabeth Marshall. 

Marshall's early work consisted primarilly of portraiture including many of sporting characters.  At the age of 26 his interest turned to animals, particularly horses and hunting scenes and it is for these paintings that he is most well known.  His paintings were popularised in the UK by John Scott of both Wheble's Sporting Magazine and The Sportsman's Repository.  Scott engraved and published 68 Marshall paintings of sportsmen, horses, and dogs.  Marshall's exhibited and engraved works represent only a small proportion of the commissions which he carried out for patrons of the turf and masters of hounds throughout the country.

The Royal Academy exhibited 13 Marshall paintings consisting mainly of racehorses and their owners during two periods 1801–1812 and 1818–19.

In 1819 Marshall was seriously injured in a coach crash which effectively ended his painting career.  He became a regular contributor of letters about horse racing in The Sporting Magazine from 1821 until 1833, writing under the pseudonym 'The Observator'. He died on 29 January 1835.

Davis, Frank (22 February 1964). "A Page for Collectors: An English Horse Painter". The Illustrated London News. Retrieved 3/15/2025

Baptism register, St Mary, Marylebone, 1 July 1810 notes birth date