John Atkinson Grimshaw

(1836 - 1893)

John Atkinson Grimshaw (1836 - 1893) was a Victorian-era painter, notable for his landscapes, usually known as Atkinson Grimshaw.

He was born 6 September 1836 in Leeds. In 1856 he married his cousin Frances Hubbard (1835-1917). He died 13 October 1893, and is buried in Woodhouse cemetery, Leeds.

In 1861, at the age of 24, to the dismay of his parents, he departed from his first job as a clerk for the Great Northern Railway to pursue a career in art. He began exhibiting in 1862, under the patronage of the Leeds Philosophical and Literary Society, with paintings mainly of dead birds, fruit and blossom. He became particularly successful in the 1870s and was able to afford to rent a second home in Scarborough, which also became a favourite subject. (From Wikipedia)