English1836–1893
John Atkinson Grimshaw
A self-taught English painter from Leeds who left a railway clerk's job in 1861 to paint. He became known for moonlit streets and docks in Victorian port cities, painted with a sharpness close to photography; he is known to have used lenses or a camera obscura to project scenes onto the canvas.
A life in paintings
- 1836Born
- 1880Worked with James McNeill WhistlerChelsea, London
In the 1880s Grimshaw kept a London studio in Chelsea, close to Whistler's, and the two knew each other there. After visiting Grimshaw, Whistler said he had considered himself the inventor of nocturnes until he saw Grimshaw's moonlit pictures. Wikipedia's lead says Grimshaw 'worked with' Whistler in his Chelsea studios; the body text supports only neighbouring studios and a visit, hence confidence 0.8.
Source: Wikipedia - 1887
- 1893Died
Where to see them
Tate Britain
London
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