06/09/2026
John Atkinson Grimshaw was born in 1836
We have two paintings by the Leeds born artist on display in the gallery.
Grimshaw worked as a clerk for the Great Northern Railway when he was 16 and also began to paint scenes from nature in the parks and open fields surrounding the city. In 1858 he married his cousin Frances Hubbarde and settled into a home in New Wortley, Leeds. He began to sell his paintings and left his railway job to become a full-time painter, against his parents' wishes.
The 1880s saw the artist painting more urban scenes, but still retaining his moonlit style. He was selling his work through many London art dealers by this point, exhibiting at the Royal Academy and had a new market of American art collectors. He continued to paint until his death in 1893 at the age of 57
