At the age of sixteen in 1876, Arthur Wardle had his first painting, a study of cattle by the River Thames, displayed at the Royal Academy and this led to a lifelong interest in painting animals. In 1880 Wardle was living in central London, but by 1892 his artistic success enabled him to fashionable of St John's Wood. Arthur Wardle was very productive and up to 1936, he had exhibited over 100 paintings at the Royal Academy and the Society of British Artists. He painted an assortment of animal subjects with equal skill be they domestic or exotic animals including leopards, polar bears, and tigers painted from sketches that he made at the London Zoo. Arthur Wardle produced oils, watercolors, and pastels and was elected to the Pastel Society in 1911 and became a member of the Royal Institute of Painters in Water Colors in 1922. In 1931 he had his first one-man show at London's prestigious Fine Art Society; he also exhibited in Paris at this time. His career was successful and his works continue to be sought after and reproduced on postcards, calendars, and chocolate boxes. He remains one of the known dog painters of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, and he is especially known for his paintings of terriers.