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The Struggle for Existence, painted in 1879

by George Bouverie Goddard (1832-86)

Oil paint on canvas

 

This painting featured in the 1879 Liverpool Autumn Exhibition at the Walker. Goddard's inspiration was probably Charles Darwin's Origin of Species, 1859. Darwin used the expression "The Struggle for Existence" to discuss his theory of natural selection.

The Magazine of Art selected this as one of the pictures of the year in 1879, saying: 'It illustrates a law of the community of wolves who...engage every year in a deadly civil war in which the "fittest survive." '

Goddard was a self-taught animal painter, born in Salisbury.

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Uploaded on July 23, 2015
Taken on June 28, 2015