A wonderful painting of Colwich Hills from the bridge at Great Harwood, Staffordshire by Henry Dawson. A man can be seen riding a horse over the bridge as another figure looks across the water towards the hills. Meanwhile, a barge sails along the canal past two fishermen. The bridge depicted in this painting lies over the canal junction of Great Haywood, a short distance away from Colwich. This junction was built to join the Grand Union Canal to the Staffordshire and Worcestershire Canals. Both the bridge and junction are still in use today and the view of the hills remains relatively unchanged.

Henry Dawson was a landscape artist born in Hull on 3 April, 1811 to William Dawson and Hannah Shardlow. The family moved to Nottingham when he was still an infant. He is known to have spent time at the national school in Nottingham, however, due to family circumstances had to leave school to start work at an early age in the lace industry. He was largely self-taught and painted during his spare time. Around 1835, he left lace making to work full time as an artist. He studied under James Baker Pyne (1800-1870) in 1838 and in the same year made his debut at the Royal Academy, exhibiting a number of works there until 1871.He also exhibited at the British Institute from 1841 and also at the Liverpool Academy, where he was elected an associate in 1846 and a Member in 1847.

He married Elizabeth Whittle in Nottingham in 1840 and they lived in Mansfield Road, Nottingham where the first of their children were born. Two of his children, Henry Thomas Dawson (1841-1918) and Alfred Dawson (1843-1931) also became artists as did his grandson Montague Dawson (1895-1973). Although he achieved some success in Nottingham, for financial reasons he decided to move his family to Liverpool, where they stayed from 1845 until 1849. He moved again for similar reasons to Croydon in Surrey living at Middle Heath Lane and from1854 he lived in Thorpe Green, Chertsey at Prospect Cottage. Being closer to the capital helped enhance his reputation and inspired by Turner he began to produce seascapes, riverscapes and coastal scenes often featuring architectural focal points. Dawson continued to travel around the country to paint the landscapes and coasts of England, frequently including castles such as this fine example. Around 1863, he moved to The Cedars in Chiswick where he spent his final years until his death on 13 December, 1878.

His work is represented in many public art collections including the Birmingham Museum, Bury Art Museum, Ferens Art Gallery, Leicester Museum, Nottingham City Museum, Victoria & Albert Museum, Wednesbury Museum, Sheffield Museum, Wolverhampton Art Gallery and the York Art Gallery.

© Benton Fine Art