Lot 62: Arthur Grimshaw , 1868-1913 winter at stapleton park, pontefract oil on panel

signed and dated l.l.: Arthur E. Grimshaw. 1894. oil on panel

measurements note 18 by 30.5 cm., 7 by 12 in.

John Atkinson Grimshaw named his five children after characters from Tennyson's Idylls of the King, Enid, Gertrude, Elaine, Lancelot and Arthur. Arthur Grimshaw was born in 1868 and like his father, he painted moonlit scenes of deserted streets and docks and evocative snow scenes in and around north Yorkshire. Little is known about Arthur's life and it is likely that he only painted for a short time between 1890 and 1900 when he gave up painting to concentrate on a career as a musician, as the organist at the Roman Catholic Church in Leeds. The present picture depicts a scene that his father painted on several occasions in the 1880s, including Autumn Sunshine, Stapleton Park, Pontefract (Christie's, 8 June 2006, lot 207). Arthur imposed his own mark upon a scene that John Atkinson had painted so often, by cladding the street in snow, glistening on the branches of the trees and gathered on the impenetrable wall. Only the wheels of the last homeward-bound carts and the feet of an elegantly dressed lady in furs and carrying a muffler against the cold, leave their impressions in the snow.