John Atkinson Grimshaw

Private collection, Switzerland from where acquired by the present owner's family c.1995

This picture is in excellent condition with strong colours throughout and no signs of craquelure. The board is flat. There is a very small area of paint-loss in the lower right corner and possibly another very minor fleck of paint-loss close to the lower right edge (neither are very noticeable). UNDER ULTRAVIOLET LIGHT There is a small area of restoration to the rock at the top left of the composition. FRAME Contained in a simple gilt wooden frame.
"In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective, qualified opinion. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."

It was in the early 1860s that Grimshaw decided to establish himself as an artist, and the present painting is a rare example by the artist at the very outset of his career. The intense attention to detail - most remarkably seen in the surface, colour and light of the moss-covered rocks - reveals the dominant artistic concern at this time; that of John Ruskin's 'bona fide imitation of nature', famously espoused in his Modern Painters (1843) and taken up by the Pre-Raphaelites in their exact rendering of nature.

Grimshaw was a self-taught artist and the 1860s reveal him developing his style and technique in a series of works comparable to the present, such as A Mossy Glen (1864, Bankfield Museum, Halifax) and Still Life of Bird's Nest with Flowers (1863, Leeds Art Gallery), in which he makes similarly detailed observations of nature. Grimshaw would have had the opportunity to see the work of the Pre-Raphaelites in Leeds, where there was an active public exhibition and patronage programme. Links have also been made between Grimshaw and his pre-eminent contemporary, John William Inchbold, whose works such as, At Bolton: the White Doe of Rylstone (1855, Leeds City Art Galleries), closely recalls the Pre-Raphaelites, whom Inchbold knew personally.

The paintings Grimshaw produced in the 1860s represent his closest alignment with the Pre-Raphaelite movement, exemplified in the present painting and anticipating celebrated works such as The Bowder Stone, Borrowdale (c.1865, Tate). By the end of the decade, Grimshaw developed his style into the familiar urban nocturnes that define his career of the 1870s onwards.