“Autumn Evening”
This is a golden hour painting…
“Autumn Evening” is a glowing oil on canvas painting by the Victorian English realist artist, John Atkinson Grimshaw. It was painted in 1883 during the height of his career.
This atmospheric piece depicts a walled street in the city of Leeds, England. Trees flank both sides of the road. Most of the leaves have already dropped from the tree limbs and can be seen strewn across the street. There is a house with lighted windows seen in the far back. A woman is walking alone on the right side of the street with her back to the viewer. The street is illuminated with an evening amber glow from the setting sunlight. The color of the sky is reflected in the numerous puddles on the road.
Grimshaw’s patrons, particularly his middle-class customers, were quite fond of his twilight paintings such as this one here. As such, he was quite successful and lauded by other artists in addition to the public.
Gimshaw painted this setting several times from the early 1870s and on. Sometimes, he would use a camera obscura to outline a scene on a canvas. He would reuse this tool to help him recreate compositions several times over. The same tool was used by such art masters as Johannes Vermeer and Caravaggio.
“Autumn Evening” is currently in a private collection. It last sold in 2016 for $134,500 through a Christie’s art auction.
For more on John Atkinson Grimshaw, please visit his short biography here.
You can find more artists to learn about here.
