Henry Dawson

Crepuscular Rays - 19th Century Oil Painting of English Coastal Evening Sunset

1863

Although a student of James Baker Pyne (1800-1870), the majority of Henry Dawson’s art instruction came from studying the landscapes of J.M.W. Turner (1775-1851). Dawson’s fine draftsmanship and colouring earned him a considerable reputation among many influential British artists before he ever exhibited at the major London galleries. Between 1838 and 1875 Henry Dawson exhibited at the Royal Academy, the British Institution, and the Royal Society of British Artists, to which he was elected a full member in 1875. During this period, his fame earnt him the patronage of two of the most important art collectors of Victorian Britain; James Orrock and John Burton, owners of numerous paintings by J.M.W. Turner. Following the death of the latter in 1851, John Burton told Henry Dawson that his “powers are not equalled by any living or working man." In 2000 Dawson's 1857 painting of a sunset over ‘The New Houses of Parliament, Westminster’ sold at Phillips in London for £185,000. Today, works by Dawson feature in the collections of the Walker Gallery in Liverpool and the Victoria and Albert Museum in London.