John Atkinson Grimshaw
Fundamental Paintings to Understand the History of Painting
We could make this publication thanks to small donations. How is 3 minutos de arte supported?
Nightfall on the Thames (1880). John Atkinson Grimshaw.
Oil on board. 40.2 cm x 63.1 cm
Leeds City Art Gallery. Leeds, England
If we wanted to define this painter or talk about the importance of his work in just one phrase, we would probably say: “Grimshaw is the painter who specialized in night landscapes.” Or in a more romantic manner: he is “the moonlight painter,” as he has been called in some of his retrospective exhibitions.
This definition is not a whimsical one, as this anecdote shows: Whistler, the American genius of painting, after visiting Grimshaw and seeing his work, arrived to the following conclusion: “I considered myself the inventor of nocturnes, until I saw Grimmy’s moonlit pictures.”
Whistler painted in his nocturnes the effects of light as an Impressionist (with a quick, loose brushstroke, showing the manner in which we perceive our surroundings in just an instant; the “spots” of color or light and shadows that take form in our eye to generate tones and figures). Instead, Grimshaw is realistic, his nocturnes are clear, as photographs taken with a perfect focus. They are detailed to the extreme.
Nevertheless, the English artist added certain idealism to those realistic representations. Grimshaw painted his nocturnes with a romantic spirit and gave industrial England, full of pretty chaotic and dirty harbors and urban landscapes, a lovely poetic charm.
A great deal of an artist’s talent was evidenced in his capacity of painting the effects of light —at least until modernity arrived—. And we surely agree that an extraordinary talent is needed to be able to paint light, at night.
Recommended links:
Turner Seascapes and Romanticism.
Snow Storm – Steam-Boat off a Harbour’s Mouth (1842), Turner.
Impression, Sunrise (1872), Claude Monet.
Stories behind the Works of Art: Monet and the Rouen Cathedral.
Avenue de L’Opéra, Rain Effect (1898), Camille Pissarro.
You can also find more material using the search engine.
0 Comments