Saturday, February 7, 2009

John Atkinson Grimshaw - paintings














[Old Chelsea]
Hammer Price with Buyer's Premium: 128,000 GBP (1998)
signed l.r.: Atkinson Grimshaw; signed and inscribed with title on the reverse
oil on canvas
76.5 by 64 cm., 30 by 25 1/4 in.
Grimshaw's painting Old Chelsea shows the tower of Chelsea Old Church from Cheyne Row, looking westwards along Lordship Place. The
eighteenth-century houses which line the street on the left have been replaced by a mansion block. The building on the right at the far end of Lordship Place is now The Cross Keys public house. The modern terrace of houses to its left is higher than that shown in Grimshaw's painting and masks most of the tower of the rebuilt church. A daytime painting of the same view was entitled An Idyl of Old Chelsea (exhibited Leeds City Art
Gallery, Atkinson Grimshaw, 1979, no.58). Chelsea subjects occur among Grimshaw's output from about 1880. This was the period when the artist was making frequent visits to London, and for a number of years he maintained a studio in Manresa Road, to the north of the King's Road in Chelsea. In London Grimshaw had the opportunity to study the works of and meet progressive painters. According to family tradition, Grimshaw knew the American artist James Whistler in Chelsea. It is also said that Whistler had complimented Grimshaw on his paintings of street scenes at night, remarking on one occasion, 'I thought I had invented the Nocturne, until I saw Grimmy's moonlights.' (Quoted, Alexander Robertson, Atkinson Grimshaw, London, 1988, p.75)
[Waning Glory] 1883
signed and dated l.r.: Atkinson Grimshaw/1883+; signed, dated and inscribed with title on the reverse
oil on canvas
51 by 76.5 cm., 20 by 30 in.
[Whitby from Station Quay] 1878
signed and dated l.l.: Atkinson Grimshaw 1878 +; signed, inscribed with title and dated on the reverse
oil on panel
22.5 by 45.5 cm., 8 3/4 by 18 in.
[Rainy Evening, Liverpool]
signed l.l.: Atkinson Grimshaw
oil on canvas
61 by 91.5 cm., 24 by 36 in.
[A Lane by Moonlight] 1883
signed l.r.: Atkinson Grimshaw 1883+
oil on board laid down on panel
32 by 51 cm., 12 1/2 by 20 in.
[An Autumnal Lane at Sunset] 1883
signed l.r.: Atkinson Grimshaw 1883+
oil on board laid down on panel
30.5 by 51 cm., 12 by 20 in..
http://www.bridgemanartondemand.com/artist/2565/John_Atkinson_Grimshaw
http://www.atkinsongrimshaw.co.uk/

3 comments:

Sue Catmint said...

I adore the light in all these paintings.

Hermes said...

He has a really almost unique style that I love too. Makes you look at things in a different way.

The Old Nail said...

There are two paintings here that I haven't seen before. Atkinson Grimshaw painted several hundred of this type of painting in his lifetime and it's always a pleasure to discover 'new' ones!