English painter, born at Birkenhead. He was trained first at the Gloucester school of art and afterwards in Paris at the Académie Julian, and in the École des Beaux Arts under Cabanel. He exhibited after 1886 practically the whole of his work at the New English Art Club, in whose formation he took a leading part and of which he was at one time president. His earlier work, such as the “Boulogne Sands” showed the influence of impressionism in its feeling for light and its handling of colour; but after 1895 he adopted a more sober palette, at times using strong black shadows with silvery lights, and gave increased attention to design. After 1900 he returned to the use of a full range of pigment, and produced some of his finest work, such as “Richmond after Storm” (1903) and “The Isle of Purbeck” (1909). In later years he only used the impressionist colour analysis to a very limited extent, and generally worked within a chosen and limited colour scheme. His feeling for colour harmony and power of rendering subtle variations in tone relate him to Gainsborough (a likeness well exemplified in “The Beaver Hat”), and give his work its characteristic quality. Most typical perhaps are his landscapes, mainly wide stretches of country with broken skies, full of light, atmosphere and a sense of space; but he also produced many portraits and figure compositions, his painting of the nude being marked by great appreciation of the character and quality of flesh. His later work includes “A Summer Evening” (1914), “Painswick Beacon” (1916), “The Vale of Gloucester” (1917), “Chirk Castle” (1917), and a considerable group of water-colours, very delicately and directly handled. A self portrait is in the Uffizi Gallery, Florence, and he is represented in the Tate Gallery, the Municipal Gallery, Dublin, and the Johannesburg Gallery.
