John Atkinson Grimshaw 1836-1893

London, Robert Frank (Charlotte Frank), 31st July 1962, bought by Ivor Idris for £90;

Thence by descent 

In the late 1860s Grimshaw became increasingly interested in painting ships and the sea. On the one hand he focused on the great ports of London, Glasgow, Liverpool and Hull and on the other, he captured the more intimate harbours of the East side of the harbour with Whitby Abbey dominating the sky line. In 1867, Grimshaw painted what is arguably the first of his moonlit harbour scenes, Whitby Harbour by Moonlight (private collection) and from the end of the 1860s, the fishing town was to become a frequently recurring subject. He eventually built a house, Castle-by-the-sea, at nearby Scarborough in 1876.

Despite rarely exhibiting these views, Grimshaw's paintings of Whitby were immediately popular with collectors and quickly snapped up directly from the artist's studio. It was the mechanism of the port and the role in the life of the city which fascinated Grimshaw and explains why in all his paintings he always includes various signs of activity, such as the nonchalant figures of dock workers in the foreground of the present picture. The lights of the buildings twinkling in the night and reflecting in the still waters of the dock, further suggest signs of life amid the silent streets skirting the dock. 

Grimshaw presents port scenes such as this as icons of commerce and the city. Whitby was not only important for its role as a major fishing port, but also as a centre for the manufacture of jet jewellery which was enormously popular in Nineteenth Century England. Grimshaw's depiction of the port is full of painstaking detail and he clearly celebrates its industrial role. Rather than concentrating on the smoke and dirt of a busy port he chooses a moonlit view and presents a beautifully detailed image. Pictures such as this appealed directly to the Victorian public's pride in their industrial achievements and explains Grimshaw's immense success as an artist. 

The contrast of shadows and moonlight in the present picture is typical of Grimshaw’s oeuvre during the second half of his career. The artificial brightness of the light together with the blackness of the boats in the foreground recall characteristics of calotype photography that developed in the late 18th century and which Grimshaw, as an artist, would have undoubtedly been aware of. Like James Tissot, he was also fascinated by the intricacies of ship rigging and as the masts and ropes of the ship on the right foreground exemplify, he devoted great attention to these specific details.