An admirer and follower of Queen Victoria’s best loved artist Sir Edwin Henry Landseer (1802-1873), Edwin Douglas lived in Edinburgh and studied at the Royal Scottish Academy Schools. He first exhibited at the Royal Scottish Academy itself in 1865, subjects in his early years being Scottish genre and historical scenes. In 1871 as with so many of his compatriots, Douglas moved to London in search of patronage and commissions, having exhibited firstly at the Royal Academy in 1869. He lived in Bedford Gardens subsequently moving to Dorking in 1873 and to the village of Shere near Guildford in 1875. Douglas continued to paint Scottish subjects throughout his life, but interspersed with portraits and genre. However, it was as a painter of animals and most particularly dogs, for which he was so widely known and admired. It is in his portrayal of dogs that Douglas excelled. As with Landseer, his works can be highly sentimental and his dogs imbued with an anthropomorphic quality.

Douglas was a highly successful artist whose animal paintings, like those of Landseer, struck a chord with Victorian collectors. He exhibited at the Royal Academy 1869-1900, forty one works in total, at the Royal Scottish Academy and other venues in London and the provinces. Having moved to Findon in Sussex in 1891, Douglas died in 1914.