John Atkinson Grimshaw

‘The early 1870s witnessed in particular the development of the ‘moonlights’ which were to become synonymous with Grimshaw’s name. The care which went into the best of these subjects was just as great as that taken in his early Pre-Raphaelite type of paintings.’

(Alexander Robertson, Atkinson Grimshaw, 2004, p. 35)

This is a reduced variant of Under the Harvest Moon also painted in 1872 (sold in these rooms, lot 309) in which a heavily-laden haycart replaces the male and female figures seen here. This couple of rustic figures, one carrying a basket suggestive of a trip to market, add a romantic element to the nocturnal scene. The early 1870s were the glory years for Grimshaw, the years in which he painted his most impressive and beautiful pictures, when success and financial stability was no longer elusive and he was already recognised as a talented and sophisticated landscape painter. By 1872 Grimshaw was living in style at Knostrop Old Hall, a seventeenth-century manor house on the outskirts of Leeds and was settled into a comfortable family life. He had many loyal patrons and was beginning to be accepted by the fickle art world of London. The art dealer William Agnew had begun to sell Grimshaw’s work and in 1874 one of his paintings appeared at the Royal Academy Summer Exhibition. With his increased success Grimshaw faced a demand for his work that he satisfied by painting smaller versions of successful pictures for private patrons and for art dealers who wanted to benefit from his fame.