Louis Hubbard Grimshaw

Wakefield, Upper Westgate
1896
Oil on canvas
27 x 42 cm
Purchased with aid from V&A Purchase Grant Fund, the Art Fund and Public Donation, 1981. Photography Norman Taylor

Several of John Atkinson Grimshaw’s children became painters. Like his father, Louis specialised in nostalgic, beautifully lit evening scenes.

In this view of Upper Westgate in Wakefield, the cathedral rising in the background, he conveys a wet autumn evening with luminous shop windows, gas lamps, late shoppers and streets that glisten with recent rain.

In 1981, the painting was put on display in Wakefield Museum with a donation box beside it. Along with commitment from various funding bodies, this public appeal helped to successfully raise the money to purchase the work for Wakefield’s collection.