JOHN ATKINSON GRIMSHAW (BRITISH, 1836-1893)

During the first half of the 1880s, Grimshaw travelled annually to London from his home in Leeds in order to capitalise on the market for local topographical views. As this lot demonstrates, these compositions were largely focused around the river Thames, the heart of the bustling city, which he captured bathed in distinctive and atmospheric moonlight. These paintings were highly regarded, and led Grimshaw’s friend and neighbour Whistler to comment, ‘I considered myself the inventor of nocturnes until I saw Grimmy’s moonlight pictures’. London Bridge is an example of Grimshaw's atmospheric use of colour, which dramatises the familiarity of the Thames.