约翰.弗雷德里克.泰勒 John Frederick Tayler，1802年四月三十日出生于赫特福德郡埃尔斯特里的博勒姆伍德，他是一位乡绅之子。

泰勒的叔父为牛津基督教堂的主持牧师，于是他自幼受教于伊顿公学和哈罗公学，众人眼中他注定成为一名教会人员。然而不久之后，泰勒就表现出了对艺术的强烈兴趣。他不顾家人的反对，势必要成为一名画家。

在萨斯学院和皇家艺术学院进行学习之后，泰勒前往巴黎游学。在此期间，他在画家霍拉斯.凡尔纳及其女婿（Paul Delaroche）的工作室工作。在巴黎停留过后，他紧接着前往意大利，在那里他再一次遇到了年轻的画家理查.帕克斯.博宁顿，两人最开始在加来相遇，建立了真挚的情谊，并随后在巴黎同享了一个工作室。

泰勒在水彩方面深受博宁顿的影响。随着年龄渐长，他逐渐对油画产生了兴趣，师从于威廉姆.鲍威尔.弗里斯。但是，在他的艺术生涯中，使其名声大噪的依然是他笔下那些精致优雅的田园风景和充满活力的运动情景水彩画。泰勒的运动情景画包括两种类别，其一主要描绘十八世纪时的狩猎场景，而另一类则主要侧重于描绘苏格兰当代运动场景。泰勒还创作了一些关于服饰场景的画作，它们大部分在“威弗利小说”系列中当做插图使用。

1831年2月，泰勒当选为皇家水彩协会准会员，并在1834年6月成为正式会员。他大约共有五百幅作品在该协会展出，这些作品约半数创作于1831-1855年间。他曾与乔治.巴雷特共同创作，除此以外，其画《掌上明珠》是他与托马斯.迈尔斯.理查德森合作完成的。1855年，泰勒当选为皇家水彩协会副主席。在此期间，他还成为了1855年“巴黎展览”艺术委员会和评判委员会成员。

1858年二月，在时任主席的约翰.弗雷德里克.路易斯卸任之后，泰勒开始担任皇家水彩画协会主席职位。在长达十二年的任期后，他于1871年六月退休。退休之后，他仍继续为水彩协会的展览提供作品。1889年六月二十日，泰勒在西汉普斯特与世长辞，葬于汉普斯特墓地。1890年二月十五日，泰勒的作品在佳士得拍卖行售出。泰勒之子——诺曼.泰勒，后来也成为了一名艺术家，并于1878年成为了水彩协会的一名会员。

泰勒的许多知名作品，例如《称鹿》和《跨过小溪》等广为人称道。他创作出的二十几幅石版画，均收录于T.麦克林于1844年出版的《弗雷德里克.泰勒的作品集》一书中。泰勒不仅为蚀刻画协会的一名会员，也有一些木版画的创作。泰勒的作品在当时十分受人追捧，在二十世纪初的拍卖会上，他的作品价格就高达350英镑。

才华横溢的泰勒作为英国极富盛名的水彩画家，擅长描绘人物与动物，即使是本画中复杂的人物关系他也能驾轻就熟地完成，可见其功力深厚。

画面色调清雅，描绘了出行的女官等人在岸上观察划船之人的情形，位于树下的女官一行人身姿优雅，马匹强壮有力，而远处平静的湖面上缓慢地行进着一只木船，木船满载着人群，正缓缓地向岸边驶来。

画家将重色和纯度最高的色彩集中于女官一行人身上，强调了画面的主体，在色彩上很好地拉开了节奏，营造了两组人物的虚实关系和空间关系。其中女官的红色袍服极其显眼艳丽，构图上画家也将其置于黄金分割处，突出画中核心。

整幅画面一气呵成，没有过多的反复，笔触直接有力，潇洒地塑造出坚实生动的形体。其中无论是人物还是动物的造型都非常准确到位，体现了画家深厚的素描功底。泰勒很好地利用水彩的各种技法，不管是细节的描绘还是大面积的渲染都画得非常到位，毫无滞怠，就连船上人物的倒影都有认真描绘。画家利用白色不透明颜料的提亮轻松带出近景人物身上的各种细节与质感。

在画家的笔下，整幅画面流光溢彩。潇洒洒脱中富有戏剧性，形象生动表现力强，很好地展现了画家炉火纯青的技法和胸有成竹的气度。

Frederick was the son of a country gentleman, Archdale Wilson Tayler and his wife Frances Eliza, and was born at Boreham Wood, Elstree, Hertfordshire, on 30 April 1802. His siblings included Henry Joseph (b.1787), Elisa (b.1789), Sarah Maria (b.1790), Susannah Matilda (b.1791), Julia (b.1793), George Robert (b. 1795), Charles (b.1796), Anna Frances (b.1797), Emily Susan (b.1799), Thomas Edward (b.1799), Joseph Francis (b. 1805), Joseph Edward (b. 1807), William (b. 1808).

The elder Tayler was ruined by the dishonesty of an agent, and entered the army. He died while Frederick was still a child, leaving a widow and seventeen children, several of whom rose to a certain eminence in their careers. William Tayler, commissioner of Patna in India, was a younger brother. The family had influential friends and some clerical interest.

Frederick's uncle, Charles Henry Hall, was dean of Christ Church, Oxford, and the boy was educated successively at Eton College and Harrow School, and destined for the church. He soon, however, showed his strong artistic bent, and, in spite of domestic opposition, determined to become a painter.

After studying at Sass's school and at the Royal Academy he went to Paris, and worked for a time under Horace Vernet, also frequenting the studio of Vernet's son-in-law, Paul Delaroche. From France he passed into Italy, where he spent some time, chiefly in Rome. While still a lad he met Richard Parkes Bonington at Calais, and a friendship sprang up between the two painters, who for a time shared a studio in Paris.

Tayler's fondness for water-colour was no doubt encouraged by Bonington, and though he made his début in the academy of 1830 with an oil-picture, ‘The Band of the 2nd Life Guards,’ he did not long hesitate in his choice of a medium. In mature life he occasionally turned his ambition towards oil, and even took some friendly lessons in Mr. W. P. Frith's studio (Frith, Autobiography). It was, however, as a painter of ‘elegant’ sporting and pastoral scenes in watercolour that he achieved the popularity which was maintained throughout his long career. His sporting subjects were of two classes, some dealing with the costumes and accessories of eighteenth-century stag-hunts, others with incidents of contemporary sport in the highlands of Scotland. Akin to these were his illustrative drawings of costume and scenery, many of them suggested by incidents in the ‘Waverley Novels'.

In February 1831 Tayler was elected an associate of the Royal Watercolour Society (the so-called "Old Watercolour Society"), and in June 1834 he became a full member. He contributed in all about five hundred drawings to the society's exhibitions, about half of which appeared during Copley Fielding's presidency (1831–1855). A dozen of these were painted in collaboration with the younger George Barret (d. 1842), and one, ‘The Favourites,’ with Thomas Miles Richardson On the death of Fielding in 1855 Tayler, as senior member of the committee of management, was vice-president for the year, and discharged the duties of president during the interregnum of eight months which, out of respect for Fielding's memory, was allowed to pass before the election of his successor. In his official capacity Tayler became a member of the fine arts committee for the Paris Exhibition of 1855, as well as one of the jury. On his arrival in Paris, however, the hanging of the pictures was practically completed. He was nevertheless fiercely attacked in connection with some alleged unfairness, notably as regards the works of John Frederick Lewis. His distress at this affair brought on a serious illness, from the effects of which he did not finally recover until peace was restored in the society by the election of Lewis as president.

In February 1858 Lewis resigned office, and Tayler was unanimously elected president. He filled this position for over twelve years, and retired in June 1871. He continued to send drawings to the society's exhibitions down to the time of his death. This took place at West Hampstead on 20 June 1889. He was buried in Hampstead cemetery. His drawings and sketches were sold at Christie's on 15 February 1890. Tayler married, in 1837, Jane Parratt, and left several children, one of whom, Norman Tayler, followed his father's profession, and became an associate of the Watercolour Society in 1878.

Many of Tayler's best known drawings, such as ‘Weighing the Deer’ and ‘Crossing the Brook,’ were engraved. He himself executed some two dozen ‘lithotints,’ which were published by T. McLean in 1844, under the title of ‘Frederick Tayler's Portfolio.’ A member of the ‘Etching Club,’ he etched a number of small plates for the various publications of that body (Goldsmith's 'The Deserted Village,’ ‘Songs of Shakespeare,’ ‘Etched Thoughts,’ &c.), and also made drawings on wood for several popular classics, such as Thomson's ‘Seasons,’ ‘Sir Roger de Coverley,’ and Goldsmith's ‘Works.’ His art, though now somewhat old-fashioned, had a great vogue in his day, some of his drawings fetching over £350. at public auction in the 1900s. His powers were best displayed in rapid and suggestive sketches, in which, says Mr. Ruskin, ‘the quantity of effect obtained is enormous in proportion to the apparent means’.