Gilbert Holiday

During World War I British painter Gilbert Holiday was an official war artist, and he also served as a gunner in the Royal field Artillery on the Western Front. He then established himself primarily as an excellent painter of horses. As a keen horseman he painted equestrian scenes of almost every sort, including hunting, racing, polo, coaching, and show jumping. He shared a studio for a short while with Lionel Edwards, who had influenced him, and was widely known as one of the best sporting artists of the 20th century. In 1932 Holiday had a serious riding accident, was paralyzed from the waist down, and was confined to a wheelchair, which eventually led to his death. His nephew Henry was a noted designer of stained glass.

The title of the submitted painting, _ The Try Hards and the Die Hards_ was a pun. It showed a turbulent scene of the Grand National steeplechase horse race. The picture was published as a print of 25 x 38 cm in a whole series on this theme.