'Il Pensoroso' ~ John Atkinson Grimshaw
John Atkinson Grimshaw is perhaps best known today for his fairy paintings, but he was most prolific as a painter of atmospheric nighttime landscapes and cityscapes. On very rare occasions he turned to the portrait, and we have one such example below. I get the feeling that he wasn't overly fond of painting people, since he didn't do it often, and to be honest from the few examples I've seen he wasn't especially good at it. This is one of the better ones. I like it especially for it's close, intimate feeling, and the detailed rendering of the plants in the greenhouse.
