John Atkinshaw Grimshaw is one of the best known Leeds artists of the 19th century and so the Friends were happy to be able to contribute to a piece so significant to our local history.
Showing an important time in Leeds’ social history, this view of Leeds from Woodhouse Ridge shows the beginnings of Leeds’ urban expansion as the city’s Victorian industrialisation encroached on the surrounding countryside. This juxtaposition between the urban and the rural is a subject frequently revisited in Grimshaw’s work.
The scene shows figures, one of which is said to be Grimshaw’s wife, looking over Leeds, towards St Chad’s church.
This work has been added to an already extensive collection of Grimshaw’s paintings owned by Leeds Museum and Galleries. It will soon be added to The Leeds Story exhibition at Leeds City Museum.
