Atkinson Grimshaw, Tetley, Nocturnes and Springtime

Leeds Art Gallery has been hosting an exhibition – ‘Don’t Let’s Ask for the Moon…’: Nocturnes and Atkinson Grimshaw which I have been meaning to get to for some time, and finally managed this Easter Thursday gone, a rare day off work with nothing else pressing on my time.

I’ve always been a fan of Atkinson Grimshaw – obviously a lot of his work in Leeds resonates with my urban photography and I have also always loved his use of (low) light.

This exibition was, as the title suggests, based around some of his night time work, with contributions from other artists in a similar vein.

Though, perhaps breaking slightly from this theme the first work as you enter is Grimshaw’s Iris, the compelling fairy portrait, or as the Gallery notes “a beautiful young nude, who could respectably grace the walls of any businessman’s mansion”. There’s more about this painting here.

What I was very interested in on this visit is the techniques and brushwork – though Grimshaw was reuptedly derided by some for his poor technique and use of a Camera Obscura, I am studying oils at the moment and it’s very interesting to see how other artists use them.

What strikes me about Iris is the central figure stands out in almost a different style to the background, looking almost like collage and for me the background is quite understated. Up close, as in these details you can see the complexity of the mark making, verging into impressionist splashes of colour and almost pontilism, yet subtle and tied to the base.

This dappled effect, the pigment almost seeming to float in drops of oil can be seen on details of some of Atkinson Grimshaw’s other work, such as in these – the sparks of the fire in Peril (The Harbour Flare) and the delicate leaves in Autumn Glory – The Old Mill. As I have been doing a little more Oil Painting, I’m very interested in looking at artists techniques here.

The Exhibition also featured various works by Elizabeth Magill – a new artist to me. I liked her style which speaks to some of the semi-impressionist ways I approach watercolour, and the sense of lonliness in her images – here’s a couple of details. She has a specific way of working with some of her pictures, involving working direct onto a photograph with the oil paint – viewing her work has inspired me to go back to some of my film photography for inspiration, especially some of the images from toy cameras where I have a few that speak to me in the same stark emotional way.

In a similar vein to Atkinson Grimshhaw’s Brushwork, the detail from The Convent Garden by Francis S. Walker shows the intricte detail on the leaves, against the more impressionistic background textures – something I am playing with in a current piece I am working on.

In a slightly different vein, the soft textures of George Clausen’s The Village at Night and Georg Sauter’s Dordrecht (The Netherlands) at Night create an eerie atmosphere, again speaking to some of my film photography and a futher inspiration for my work for the future.

Quickly, also noting, though unconnected to the main theme of this exhibition, The Veiled Venus – which for me looks almost Geigeresque, as if she is tearing the skin from her face, I’ll move to a (slightly) connected thought of the day.

An idea I had some time ago, was to photograph some of the Leeds locations Atkinson Grimshaw painted, and of course one of his well-known Leeds works is his painting of Park Row. Seeing his work has rekindled that idea and I think I will make an effort to do so, but for now here’s a quick view of Park Row, in 2026, 144 years after his painting. It made me think a little about the changes to the City, even in the 30 years I have been here and indeed the 20 or so I have been actively photographing Leeds, an example being The Core, or as was The Schofield Centre many years ago, now being razed to the ground for some other development.

The other aim of my trip into town was to go to Hobbycraft to buy paper, and I decided to walk down rather than take the bus. There’s been a lot of work over the last decade developing the South Bank of the river, after the development of Leeds Dock with the initial construction of the Armouries some 30 years ago, and then the (and not entirely successful) further developments in around 2004. Where this failed in my mind was that it did not embrace the industrial heritage of the area, something that has worked great in Kings Cross and has started with the Viaduct Park in Leeds.

Recent redevelopment, as the city centre expands outwards is now taking place on the old Tetley’s site, and the new Aire Park – and this in my mind is slowly doing what the Dock could not – though the stark contrast as you leave Aire Park is quite intense. Here’s a few shots from the walk down, the huge Plaza outside the Tetley Building and the new park.

And as the flowers show. Spring may just be on it’s way!