Gone Fishing - with the dog

Philip Stretton (British artist, 1865–1919) Left in Charge

Gone Fishing - in 1600s England

Wenceslaus Hollar (European-born English artist, 1607-1677) Angling

Wenceslaus Hollar (European-born English artist, 1607-1677) River Fishing

Wenceslaus Hollar (European-born English artist, 1607-1677) Salmon Fishing

The earliest Picnics occured after the Hunt in the 18C

Food historians tell us picnics evolved from the elaborate traditions of outdoor feasts enjoyed by the wealthy. Medieval hunting feasts & Renaissance-era country banquets probably were the earliest picnics.

1737 Carle or Charles-André van Loo (1705-1765) After the Hunt

"Picnic. Originally, A fashionable social entertainment in which each person present contributed a share of the provisions." The OED traces the oldest print evidence of the word picnic in the English language to 1748. The word was known in France, Germany, and Sweden prior to becoming an English institution. 
---Oxford English Dictionary [Clarendon Press:Oxford], 2nd edition, Volume XI (p. 779)

1738 Carle or Charles-André van Loo (1705-1765) The Picnic after the Hunt

"The earliest picnics in England were medieval hunting feasts. Hunting conventions were established in the 14C, and the feast before the chase assumed a special importance. Gaston de Foiz, in a work entitled Le Livre de chasse (1387), gives a detailed description of such an event in France. As social habits in 14C England were similar to those in medieval France, it is safe to assume that picnics were more or less the same."  
---Oxford Companion to Food, Alan Davidson [Oxford University Press:Oxford] 1999 (p. 602)

 1737 Nicolas Lancret (1690-1743)  The Hunting Party Meal

"The French might have invented the word "picnic," pique nique being found earlier than "pic nic." It originally referred to a dinner, usually eaten indoors, to which everyone present had contributed some food, and possible also a fee to attend. The ancient Greek "eranos," the French "moungetade" described earlier, or modern "pot luck" suppers are versions of this type of mealtime organization. ...Picnics derive, also, from the decorous yet comparatively informal 16C "banquets"...whichh frequently took place out of doors."
---The Rituals of Dinner: The Origins, Evolutions, Eccentricities and Meaning of Table Manners, Margaret Visser [Penguin:New York] 1991 (p. 150-1)

1740 Nicolas Lancret (1690-1743) Picnic after the hunt

"Picnic. An informal meal in which everyone pays his share or brings his own dish,' according to the Littre dictionary. That was probably the original meaning of the word, which is probably of French origin (the French piquer means to pick at food; nique means something small of no value.) The word was accepted by the Academie francaise in 1740 and thereafter became a universally accepted word in many languages. From the informal picnic, the outdoor feast developed...Weekend shooting parties and sporting events were occasions for grand picnics, with extensive menus and elaborate presentation."
---Larousse Gastronomique, completely updated and revised edition [Clarkson Potter:New York] 2001 (p. 883)

1720s-30s English houses & landscapes by Peter Tillemans (1684–1734)

Peter Tillemans (Flemish artist, 1684–1734) A View of the Garden and Main Parterre of Winchendon House, Buckinghamshire, from the East, with Figures in the Foreground

Peter Tillemans (c. 1684-1734) was a Flemish painter, best known for his works on sporting & topographical subjects. Tillemans was born in Antwerp, the son of a diamond-cutter, & studied painting there.  He was brother-in-law to fellow artist Peter Casteels (1684-1749); & in 1708 the two young men were brought over to England by a dealer named Turner to copy Old Master paintings.  By 1711, he had joined Godfrey Kneller's (1646-1723) new Great Queen Street Academy of painting as a founding member, where Tillemans declared his speciality as 'landskip'.  He later joined the Society of St Luke (and was its Steward, 1725). Tillemans lived chiefly in Westminster, but traveled to execute commissions.  

Peter Tillemans (Flemish artist, 1684-1734) Newstead Abbey, Nottinghamshire, West Aspect 1730

By 1715, he had acquired his most faithful patron, Dr Cox Macro of Suffolk. In his country landscapes with gardens paintings, the houses often stand in a countryside brought to life by animals & hunting scenes.  He was employed with Joseph Goupy to paint a series of scenes for the opera-house in the Haymarket. In 1719, he was commissioned by John Bridges (1666-1724) to make about 500 drawings for the History of Northamptonshire.   These drawings were all executed in Indian ink, for which Bridges gave him a guinea a day & the run of his house.  Tillemans resided for some years at Richmond in Surrey, where is brother-in-law lived.  He also stayed at the home of his patron Dr. Cox Macro of Norton Haugh in Suffolk, where he died on 5 Dec. 1734.

Peter Tillemans (Flemish artist, 1684–1734) London from Greenwich Park

Peter Tillemans (Flemish artist, 1684–1734) Panoramic view of Chatsworth House and Park

Peter Tillemans (Flemish artist, 1684–1734) Prospect Of Ashburnham Place Sussex

Peter Tillemans (Flemish artist, 1684–1734) The View from One-Tree Hill in Greenwich Park

Peter Tillemans (Flemish artist, 1684–1734) View of Chatsworth House and Park

Peter Tillemans (Flemish artist, 1684-1734) Idealized View of Chirk Castle

  Peter Tillemans (Flemish artist, 1684–1734) A View of Uppark

Peter Tillemans (Flemish artist, 1684–1734) East View of Newsterad Abbey, Nottinghamshire

Peter Tillemans (Flemish artist, 1684–1734) A View of the Downs near Uppark including a view of the riding hill summerhouse

Peter Tillemans (Flemish artist, 1684–1734) Little Haugh Hall, Suffolk

  Peter Tillemans (Flemish artist, 1684–1734) River Thames

Peter Tillemans (Flemish artist, 1684–1734) View of Knowsley Park from the Riding Hill Summer House, looking towards Prescot Detail

1738 Unusual Gardens flanking the courtyard of this hunting-lodge castle

Charles Leopold van Grevenbroeck (c 1731-1799)  Arrival of King Louis XV (1723–1774) at La Muette Castle in 1738. Detai

The castle was built by Charles IX (1550-1574), who was obsessed with hounds & hunting & wrote a book on the sport called La Chasse Royal, which was published in 1625, long after his death. Charles IX would reside at the castle for the full hunting season. 

Charles IX around 1572, painted by François Clouet.