John Atkinson Grimshaw - A wet road by moonlight, Wharfedale

 

John Atkinson Grimshaw - A wet road by moonlight, Wharfedale

Wharfedale provided early inspiration for Grimshaw and he returned to the area on a number of occasions working in oil and watercolour.  These works provide evidence of Grimshaw's enthusiasm for the natural world as well as his consummate ability to convey it.  Grimshaw began to paint and develop moonlit scenes from the late 1860s; the present work shows that by 1872 he was master of the subject.  As in many of his works we witness a scene following a heavy downpour; the surface water reflects the moon producing light sources throughout the composition.  This not only illuminates perspective but imbues the work with an atmospheric harmony. 

The lone figure carries a pail suggesting a sense of toil and hardship yet they pause from their labour for a moment, drinking in the magnificent landscape as the moonlight catches the river on the floodplain below.  The valley is portrayed with a skillful economy as the line between horizon and sky is left blended and undefined.  This contrasts to the foreground which is rendered with meticulous detail;  the ruts and branches brilliantly silhouetted against the night sky are akin to the Pre-Raphaelite ideals of landscape painting.  The leafless trees suggest it is Autumn which along with the labourer produces a strong feeling of the rural and agricultural cycle rooted in the pastoral tradition. Via