John Atkinson Grimshaw’s Paintings of Glasgow

Somehow, Grimshaw’s paintings of Glasgow resemble the scenes that stick to one’s mind about this city: dark, rainy, with silhouettes of people walking up and down the busy streets at night. Maybe because the scenery haven’t changed that much since Grimshaw’s time!

For me, Britain is like an open museum, never been altered. While the rest of the world has been experimenting with political chaos for the past two centuries; wars, riots, resistances; independences, revolutions, etc. Britain has maintained a stable political monarchy; a peaceful harmony; a grandeur that the other nations envied and still do.

The Scottish weather is typified in Grimshaw’s paintings intricately by means of accurate color, lighting and vivid detail. Miserable may it be; wet; damp and depressing, it’s Glasgow after all, and you can’t help but fall for it. Not that I had a better choice! Somehow, when you choose to live in a new country, there’s no beating around the bush; you really must embrace the culture, eat it, breathe it, learn it, speak it, listen to it. Dive in deep; just try not to drown!