Briton's father,
William Rivière (1806–1876), was for some years drawing-master at
Cheltenham College, and then an art teacher at the
University of Oxford. Briton was educated at Cheltenham College and Oxford, where he took his degree in 1867. For his art training he was indebted almost entirely to his father. His paternal uncle
Henry Parsons Rivière (1811–1888) was also a noted watercolourist, exhibiting works at the
Royal Watercolour Society, London and the
Royal Birmingham Society of Artists. His first pictures appeared at the
British Institution, and in 1857 he exhibited three works at the
Royal Academy, but it was not until 1863 that he became a regular contributor to the Academy exhibitions. In that year he was represented by
The eve of the Spanish Armada, and in 1864 by a
Romeo and Juliet. However, subjects of this kind did not attract him long, for in 1865 he began, with
Sleeping Deerhound, a series of paintings of animal-subjects which occupied much of the rest of his life. In a lengthy interview in
Chums Boys Annual, entitled "How I paint animals", Rivière explained some of the practicalities of painting both tame and wild animals: File:Briton Rivière by J. P. Mayall.jpg|thumb|Rivière by J. P. Mayall from
Artists at Home, published 1884, Department of Image Collections, National Gallery of Art Library, Washington, DC Early in his career, Rivière made some mark as an illustrator, beginning with
Punch. He was elected an
Associate of the Royal Academy of Arts in 1878, and a
Royal Academician in 1881, and received the degree of
Doctor of Civil Law at Oxford in 1891. He was narrowly defeated in the election for President of the Royal Academy in 1896. His wife, Mary Alice Rivière (née Dobell; 1844–1931) whom he married in 1867, was a painter and exhibited briefly at the
Royal Academy of Arts in 1869–70. After his death she presented the
British Museum with four of his drawings (and an etching "The king drinks"), which complements the dozens of prints made after his work housed there, especially by
Frederick Stacpoole and
William Henry Simmons. The artist and his wife had seven children; five sons and two daughters. One of the sons,
Hugh Goldwin Rivière (1869–1956), became a portraitist; another son (Evelyn) married the eminent psychoanalyst and translator of Sigmund Freud known as
Joan Riviere. ==Works==