John Atkinson Grimshaw (1836 1893) Debussy, Clair de Lune

John Atkinson Grimshaw night, moonlight painter John Atkinson Grimshaw was a British painter best known for his poetic nocturnal landscapes that showcased both urban and rural Victorianera Britain. Grimshaw was influenced as a young artist by the PreRaphaelite painters, who focused on using a full spectrum of color to portray nature as realistically as possible. Born on September 6, 1836 in Leeds, England, he went on to be a clerk at a railroad company, a post he left at the age of 24. A decade later, Grimshaw had become a successful artist and was able to devote himself completely to his work. His paintings have an almost supernatural clarity in which all elements of the composition are in focus. Though many of Grimshaws paintings accurately depict nature, he also made works that include fairies and mythological scenes, such as his 1879 painting Spirit of the Night. His paintings are in the collections of the Tate Gallery in London, the ThyssenBornemisza Museum in Madrid, and the Leeds Gallery in t