JOHN N. RHODES, 
 
 A Yorkshire Painter. 
 
Plate I. (Frontispiece) 
 PORTRAIT OF JOHN N. RHODES. 
 
Digitized by the Internet Archive 
 in 2014 
 
 https://archive.org/details/johnnrhodesyorksOOthor 
 
JOHN N. RHODES, 
 
 A YORKSHIRE PAINTER, 
 1 809-1 842. 
 
 By William H. Thorp, 
 
 Author of " An Architect's Sketch Book at Home and Abroad!" 
 
 &eebs : 
 
 RICHARD JACKSON, COMMERCIAL STREET, 
 bonbon : 
 
 BEMROSE & SONS, LIMITED, 4, SNOW HILL, E.C. ; 
 AND DERBY. 
 
 1904. 
 
The impression of this Work is 
 limited to 400 Copies, of which 
 this is No. 
 
vu 
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 I. Sketch of the State of the Fine Arts in Leeds 
 at the beginning of the Nineteenth Century, 
 with some notice of the Exhibitions held by 
 " The Northern Society " . . i 
 
 II. Biography of John N. Rhodes, preceded by a 
 notice of the Life and Career of his Father, 
 Joseph Rhodes . . . . . .16 
 
 III. The Art of John N. Rhodes . . . .36 
 
 IV. The Art of John N. Rhodes, continued . . 53 
 
 Appendix. — Letter of Benjamin West, President of 
 the Royal Academy, to the President and 
 Members of Committee of " The Northern 
 Society for the Promotion of the Fine Arts " 67 
 
ix 
 
 ILLUSTRATIONS. 
 
 I. Frontispiece. PORTRAIT OF John 
 
 N. Rhodes - - - - Dr. T. B. Abbott Title 
 
 II. Noonday Rest {colour) - - Mr. W. H. Thorp - 10 
 
 III. Farm Lad Asleep - - - Mr. S. Ingham - - 20 
 
 IV. Lad and Donkey ... „ - - 24 
 V. The Gleaner - Mr. Gilbert Middleton 28 
 
 VI. Turned Out {colour) - - Mrs. Wedderburn - 30 
 
 VII. Study of a Dog - - - Mr. W. H. Thorp - 32 
 
 VIII. Girl at Cottage Door - - Mr. S. Ingham - - 36 
 
 IX. Sheep in Landscape - - „ - - 40 
 
 X. Landscape .... n - - 42 
 
 XI. The Skyrack Oak, Heading- 
 ley - Mr. Richard Wilson - 44 
 
 XII. Sketch of Country Lad - „ - 46 
 
 XIII. Children Gathering Sticks 
 
 {colour) ----- Dr. W. H. Eagland - 50 
 
 XIV. Rustic Courtship {colour) - Dr. T. B. Abbott - 54 
 XV. Woman Leading Donkeys - Dr. W. H. Eagland - 56 
 
 XVI. Boy and Butterfly - - „ - 58 
 
 XVII. The Cowthorpe Oak - - Leeds City Council - 60 
 
 XVIII. The Gipsy Mother- - - Mr. J. Barlow Fraser 62 
 
 XIX. Dinner Time - Mr. S. Ingham - - 64 
 
xi 
 
 PREFACE. 
 
 With the exception of one or two newspaper articles 
 and other journalistic records which have appeared from 
 time to time during the latter part of the past century, no 
 serious attempt has yet been made to deal with the life 
 and works of John N. Rhodes, whose drawings and 
 paintings are to be met with in so many Yorkshire 
 collections. 
 
 It seemed to me the time was opportune to bring 
 together all the information obtainable relating to the 
 life of this Yorkshire painter, and the works he pro- 
 duced during his brief artistic career. I only regret 
 that this interesting task was not undertaken a few 
 years earlier, when I should have been able to procure 
 particulars from more than one friend and patron of 
 the artist, who was then surviving. 
 
 Notwithstanding this drawback, details sufficient 
 for my purpose have been met with. My chief source 
 of information has been a literary sketch written by 
 the late Mr. Fenteman, of Leeds, formerly a well-known 
 bookseller and picture-dealer, who was well acquainted 
 with Rhodes and sold many of his paintings for him. 
 This has been supplemented by other facts given to me 
 by relatives of the artist who are still living. 
 
XI 1 
 
 To give a general idea of the condition of the Fine 
 Arts in Leeds at the time in which John N. Rhodes 
 lived, his biography is preceded by a chapter devoted 
 to this subject, which contains information relating to 
 " The Northern Society for the Encouragement of the 
 Fine Arts," whose periodical exhibitions held in the 
 town during the early years of the Nineteenth Century 
 created much interest. 
 
 Every facility has been given to me by the owners 
 of Rhodes' drawings and paintings to examine his 
 works in their collections, and in all cases when I 
 have made the request, sketches and pictures for repro- 
 duction have kindly been lent for the purpose. Also 
 let me acknowledge the services rendered by my friends 
 in other ways in the preparation of this little work. 
 
 William H. Thorp. 
 
 Leeds, 
 
 Nov., i go 4. 
 
CHAPTER I. 
 
 Sketch of the State of the Fine Arts in Leeds 
 
 AT THE BEGINNING OF THE NINETEENTH CeN- 
 
 tury, with some notice of the exhibitions 
 held by "The Northern Society." 
 
 In the early years of the nineteenth century, the old 
 town of Leeds, noted for its manufactures of cloth, 
 machinery, linen, and leather, and the commercial 
 activity of its inhabitants, entered upon a fresh phase 
 of progress. As its merchants acquired wealth they 
 did not give themselves up entirely to the quest of 
 the more material objects of life, but in many cases 
 shewed a desire to cultivate the graces and refine- 
 ments of existence, and amongst other objects, the 
 Fine Arts came in for a share of attention. The con- 
 ditions for the furtherance of this pursuit could hardly 
 be considered favourable, the trades of the town, with 
 little exception, did not demand much artistic ability 
 on the part of the craftsmen employed, and there were 
 but few patrons of the liberal arts to give encourage- 
 ment to youthful talent or genius. Yet, if this were 
 the case, it is interesting to note any exception to the 
 general rule. 
 
 The staple trade of the town — the manufacture of 
 cloth — did not give much scope to the artist or designer ; 
 but there was one industry, that of pottery, where more 
 favourable conditions existed, and the Leeds Pottery, 
 established at Hunslet in the year 1760, was still pro- 
 ducing its excellent cream-coloured ware, for which it 
 
 B 
 
2 
 
 jfohn JA(\ Rhodes. 
 
 had so well deserved a reputation. It is true that it had 
 reached the summit of its success ten or fifteen years 
 before the dawn of the nineteenth century, but its wares 
 were still distinguished for their beauty of form and 
 design, and the velvety quality of their glaze. It was 
 not until the year 1818, when Mr. Hartley, to whom, 
 with his partners the Greens, the success of the firm was 
 so largely due, died, that it entered upon evil days, and 
 the period of its prosperity came to an end. 
 
 Unlike the cathedral city of York, Leeds did not 
 possess many valuable memorials of ancient times, either 
 in architectural remains or artistic relics, nor were there 
 many collections of pictures and art objects to be seen 
 within its borders. Those who wished to gratify their 
 tastes in the latter direction had to resort to the seats of 
 the neighbouring nobility and county gentry. For such 
 enthusiasts, Temple-Newsam, the seat of the Ingram 
 family, with its fine gallery of paintings of the Italian, 
 Spanish and Dutch Masters ; Harewood House, with its 
 family portraits by Reynolds, Hoppner and Jackson, its 
 statuary and fine collection of china ; Farnley Hall, with 
 its Turners ; and Bramham Park, containing Lely's por- 
 trait of Queen Anne and other valuable paintings, were 
 the favoured places of pilgrimage. Nor must Nostell 
 Priory, the seat of the Wynn family, be omitted, its 
 collection including the celebrated picture of Sir 
 Thomas More and family, said to be by Holbein, but 
 considered by Dr. Waagen to be an early copy, and 
 its authenticity also questioned by so competent a 
 critic as Horace Walpole. 
 
 Amongst other collections was that of the Earl of 
 Mexborough, of Methley Hall, the representative of 
 the Saviles, whose family had intimate associations 
 with the town of Leeds for a long period, and whose 
 
A Yorkshire Painter, 
 
 3 
 
 arms were partially appropriated for the borough, the 
 three owls which constitute the crest and supporters 
 being borrowed for that purpose. Viscount Pollington, 
 the representative of the family, was a director of loan 
 exhibitions held in the town in the early years of the 
 century, and his name was associated with those of 
 Sir John Beckett and William Beckett as contributors 
 of pictures and other works of art. The taste for art 
 gradually spread and had its votaries. Many of the 
 leading families, some of them of old descent, were 
 not behindhand in their artistic appreciations, and if 
 debarred from the possession of hereditary family 
 portraits and notable " Old Masters," they did not hesitate 
 to acquire such pictures of the Italian and Dutch 
 schools as came within their notice — some of them 
 copies it must be admitted — and, better still, they gave 
 encouragement to contemporary painters of the day 
 by adding examples of their skill to their collections; 
 neither did they forget the practitioners of the craft 
 who were working in their midst. 
 
 In the front rank of these collectors should be 
 mentioned the family of Sheepshanks, who had amassed 
 considerable wealth in the cloth trade, and whose 
 representative, John Sheepshanks, gathered together a 
 large number of pictures painted by his contempo- 
 raries who practised their art in the early days of the 
 nineteenth century. Examples by Mulready, Leslie, 
 William Collins, Turner, Constable, Stanfield, and 
 others figure in his collection, which was afterwards 
 transferred to London, where it was visited in 1851 by 
 Dr. Waagen. It then numbered 226 examples, and 
 was afterwards increased and eventually bequeathed to 
 the nation, and now forms one of the principal attrac- 
 tions of the South Kensington Museum. 
 
4 
 
 jfohn Rhodes. 
 
 Concerning the names of other influential gentle- 
 men in Leeds and the neighbourhood who wished 
 to encourage a love of the fine arts, and who 
 were desirous of fostering an appreciation of the 
 beautiful and to bring before the notice of the public 
 the work of contemporary painters, valuable informa- 
 tion is to be obtained from the early records of a 
 society called " The Northern Society for the En- 
 couragement of the Fine Arts," which was founded and 
 held its first exhibition in Leeds in the year 1809. 
 The catalogue, which was printed by J. H. Leach, 
 " Top of Market Place, Leeds," is prefaced by a 
 somewhat stilted statement of the Northern Society's 
 objects in bringing together a number of pictures for 
 exhibition purposes, and an invitation to the public to 
 come and see the result of its labours. This preface 
 is dated 30th March, 1809, and is issued from the 
 "Committee Room," Leeds. 
 
 To ensure the success of the exhibition, help and 
 advice were solicited from the President of the Royal 
 Academy, the chair at that time being occupied by 
 Benjamin West, the favourite painter of George III. 
 His patronage was not asked for in vain, and to show 
 his interest in the newly founded Yorkshire Society 
 he exhibited two pictures bearing the following titles : 
 " Tobias bringing the Fish to his Father," and 
 " Poetical Landscape with figures — The first interview 
 between Calypso, Telemachus, and Mentor, on the 
 seashore after the shipwreck." 
 
 Either at the time of this exhibition or of one 
 held in a subsequent year, West addressed a letter to 
 the President, Thomas Walker, and the Committee of 
 the Northern Society, commending their efforts, and 
 incorporating with it an address, rather Johnsonian in 
 
A Yorkshire Painter. 
 
 5 
 
 language, and slightly reminiscent of the tone of the 
 discourses of Sir Joshua Reynolds, his predecessor in 
 the chair.* Commencing with congratulations to the 
 Leeds Society for its enterprise in promoting a love of 
 the fine arts, and in encouraging the painter's craft, 
 the veteran, who has bequeathed to us the canvas 
 depicting the " Death of General Wolfe," proceeds to 
 make a special plea on behalf of historical painting, 
 which, he complains, was neglected at the time and 
 did not rise to the level of contemporary portraiture. 
 He then refers to the glorious achievements of Greece 
 and Italy, and to the works of the foreign schools, which 
 were prized by men of taste of the wealthier English 
 classes, whilst on the other hand, native talent, except 
 in a few favoured cases, met with but scanty en- 
 couragement. Better it is, he maintains, to purchase 
 good examples produced in our own islands, than to 
 collect inferior pictures of foreign origin, many of 
 them attributed to celebrated artists, and others merely 
 poor copies of well known paintings. Not that he 
 advocates a crusade against the "Old Masters," for he 
 clearly states : — " No man, I assert, can place a higher 
 value on the real works of all schools, or hold their 
 names in higher respect than myself ; nor is there 
 anyone who would more earnestly desire to see them 
 treasured in the cabinets of our gentlemen and nobles; 
 but when spurious productions are imposed upon the 
 liberal purchaser, to the exclusion and contempt of all 
 real living merit, one is at a loss which to condemn 
 the most, the knavery or the folly." 
 
 The cultivation of taste in the young he strongly 
 recommends, hoping that the day is not far distant 
 when a drawing master will be added to the staff of 
 
 * The letter appears in the Appendix. 
 
6 
 
 "John <^A(\ Rhodes. 
 
 every Grammar School in the kingdom. By this 
 means, he considers, a taste will be inculcated, which 
 will not only exercise an influence over the mechanic 
 arts, adding a grace to the accompaniments of every- 
 day life, but an interest will be aroused in the works 
 produced by living artists who are dependent on the 
 patronage bestowed upon them by their wealthier 
 countrymen. 
 
 Encourage and foster the native art of the day ! 
 This desirable object is the burden of his discourse, 
 which concludes with every good wish for the pros- 
 perity of the Society, and the furtherance of the Fine 
 Arts. 
 
 The Northern Society, launched forth under such 
 favourable auspices, did endeavour to realize some of 
 the objects of its foundation. At its annual exhibitions 
 it welcomed the work of the painters of the day, 
 giving their work an opportunity of being seen by the 
 public, and of meeting with a purchaser ; and it also 
 helped to diffuse a knowledge of the beautiful amongst 
 the townspeople and the neighbouring gentry. It 
 may claim to be the pioneer movement initiated in 
 Leeds for artistic culture, which, although it spent 
 itself after a number of years, prepared the way for 
 other ventures and further enterprise; and a century 
 later sees the city in possession of an Art Gallery with 
 a valuable permanent collection of pictures, a flourish- 
 ing School of Art, and the rudiments of drawing 
 taught to every child within its borders. 
 
 Turning to the list of the original directors of the 
 Northern Society, we meet with the names of repre- 
 sentatives of Leeds families who were well known in 
 their day and who took an active part in promoting 
 the welfare of the town. A century witnesses many 
 
A Yorkshire Painter. 7 
 
 changes, and in only too many cases the families who 
 flourished a hundred years ago have either left the 
 neighbourhood or died out, whilst the number of 
 those whose descendants still survive is but small. 
 
 From one of the early catalogues we find that 
 Thomas Walker was the president of the Society, and 
 two other relatives, William and George Walker 
 appear on the list of directors. To George Walker, 
 we are indebted for his book on "Yorkshire Costume," 
 published in 1814, which contains an interesting 
 series of coloured plates, representing the characteristic 
 clothing worn by the men and women of the period 
 engaged in trade or rural occupations. It was then 
 possible by his dress to tell with some exactitude the 
 kind of work a man was engaged in, and it often was 
 picturesque in character and lent itself readily to the 
 pencil or brush of the artist ; but now many of the 
 typical costumes are things of the past, and the 
 adoption of ready-made clothing has tended to reduce 
 the work-a-day world to a dull uniformity of aspect. 
 The illustrations were the work of George Walker 
 himself, who " had a ready pencil and taste for 
 colour." In 1885, when a reprint of the work was 
 published, the original drawings from which the plates 
 were taken were in the possession of Edward Hailstone, 
 F.S.A., of Walton Hall. 
 
 The Treasurer of the Society was John Bischoff, 
 and his brother Thomas was a director. They both 
 were wealthy cloth merchants and liberal patrons of 
 the fine arts. Bischoff built a late Georgian mansion 
 of good architectural proportions and detail at the 
 corner of North Street and Hartley Hill, which still 
 survives modern street improvements, though unfor- 
 tunately it is now partially hidden by some low shops 
 
8 
 
 yohn Rhodes. 
 
 of mean appearance. A wing at the back of the 
 house was occupied for some time by Joseph Rhodes, 
 the painter, and his family, who thus were sheltered 
 under the same roof as their friend and patron. A 
 small picture of the kitchen, painted by Rhodes, 
 belongs to Mr. J. Kidson, of Leeds, and gives a good 
 idea of the comfortable interior and its occupants. 
 
 Following the name of the Lord Viscount 
 Pollington, of Methley, we find that of Sir John 
 Beckett, Bart., then venerable in years, a veteran who 
 had done yeoman service for the town, and was for a 
 lengthy period the principal partner in the Leeds Bank 
 of Beckett, Blaydes and Co. He twice held the office 
 of Mayor of Leeds, in 1775 and 1797, and was created 
 a baronet in 181 3. William and Christopher Beckett, 
 both members of the same family, were associated 
 with him in the management of the Society, and the 
 interest manifested by them a century ago in objects of 
 beauty, has been continued by their descendants to the 
 present day. 
 
 The finest exhibition of pictures ever held in Leeds 
 took place at the New Infirmary buildings in 1868, 
 and its most active promoter and the chairman of its 
 Executive Committee was William Beckett, who was 
 then known by the name of William Beckett Denison. 
 He lived to be present at the opening of the City Fine 
 Art Gallery, in 1888. In more recent times his son, 
 Mr. Ernest W. Beckett, M.P., has manifested his 
 interest in contemporary sculpture by presenting to the 
 nation two fine examples of the genius of Rodin, the 
 sculptor, and his desire to encourage the artistic welfare 
 of the town with which his family is so intimately 
 associated was shewn by performing the opening cere- 
 mony of the new buildings of the Leeds School of Art. 
 
A Yorkshire Painter, 
 
 9 
 
 Farnley Hall, the residence of the Fawkes family, 
 has already been incidentally referred to as being 
 celebrated for its collection of pictures, and at the 
 early time of which we have been speaking, Walter 
 Fawkes, the friend of J. M. W. Turner, R.A., was 
 adding to it some notable examples of the work of this 
 distinguished painter, who was at all times a welcome 
 visitor at his Yorkshire residence. To this friendship, 
 or resulting from it, we are indebted for the interesting 
 series of water colours and paintings, some of them 
 dealing with the typical scenery of the county of broad 
 acres, which still adorn the walls of the Wharfedale 
 mansion and attract numerous visitors who admire the 
 work of the master of English landscape. 
 
 Both Walter Fawkes and Francis Hawkesworth 
 Fawkes were members of the Committee of Manage- 
 ment of the Northern Society, and doubtless owing to 
 their influence Turner was induced to lend several of 
 his paintings for exhibition, for we find in 1822 he 
 had seven works for sale, and in 1823 he was repre- 
 sented by five pictures, all of them seascapes with 
 shipping. Nelson's flagship appears in the series, its 
 title in the catalogue being entered " Portrait of the 
 Victory, in three positions, passing the Needles, Isle of 
 Wight." At a much later date, in 1839, Francis 
 Hawkesworth Fawkes was a large contributor to an 
 exhibition held in the Music Hall, Albion Street, for 
 the benefit of the Mechanics' Institution. Forty-two 
 of Turner's drawings were at that time lent by him — 
 the preface to the catalogue stating that he exhibited 
 his " Unique collection of the finest works of J. M. 
 W. Turner, R.A., who stands at the head of painters 
 in water colours, and who has done far more than any 
 other man to create that School of Art in England." 
 
 c 
 
io yohn Rhodes, 
 
 The fortunes of the family of Gott were closely 
 interwoven with those of the town and trade of Leeds 
 in the early days of the nineteenth century. The 
 Northern Society was represented by three of its 
 members — Benjamin, John, and William. They had a 
 cloth manufactory at Bean Ing in Wellington Street, 
 and all of them were energetic men of business, who 
 devoted their leisure time to the encouragement of 
 scientific research and the promotion of literary and 
 artistic culture. In Benjamin Gott, the head of the 
 family, the artists of the day had the good fortune to 
 possess a liberal and discriminating friend. Sir Francis 
 Chantrey, the celebrated sculptor, was numbered 
 amongst his intimate associates, and he and his wife 
 sat for their portraits to Sir Thomas Lawrence. These 
 two pictures are excellent examples of the skill of the 
 fashionable painter of the day, and it is interesting to 
 record that they have recently been hung at the Winter 
 Exhibition of the "Old Masters" at Burlington House, 
 where the portrait of Benjamin Gott has won the 
 highest praise from distinguished critics and con- 
 noisseurs. Interested also in science and literature, he 
 was selected to lay the foundation stone of the 
 Philosophical Hall in Park Row, in 1 8 19. At that 
 time he lived in the old mansion in Cookridge Street, 
 recently used as a Priests' House for St. Ann's 
 Cathedral ; but he afterwards went to live at Armley 
 House, where he formed a valuable collection of 
 pictures and books, and harboured his various treasures. 
 
 William Gott also collected pictures, and was a 
 liberal purchaser of the drawings of John N. Rhodes, 
 the subject of this monograph, of whose works alone 
 he possessed the large number of three hundred. 
 
Plate II. 
 NOONDAY REST. 
 
A Yorkshire Painter. 
 
 Amongst other supporters of the Society were the 
 Blaydes, who at one time carried on an extensive 
 business as cloth merchants, and are said to have 
 acquired great wealth in Lydgate, but at the period 
 of which we speak, they were associated in partnership 
 with the Becketts at the Leeds Old Bank. 
 
 No record of Leeds would be complete without 
 some mention of the Marshalls, who were engaged in 
 the flax trade and employed a large number of work- 
 people at their mills in Holbeck. In this case, again, 
 three members of the family, John, John (junr.), and 
 James Garth Marshall appear on the directorate. 
 
 To enumerate the names of all the leading towns- 
 men who showed their appreciation of art by allying 
 themselves with the Northern Society would prove 
 tedious. Suffice it to say that divinity was represented 
 by the Rev. Charles Clapham ; law by Richard Ecroyd 
 Payne ; and medicine by James Williamson, M.D., 
 William Hey, and Thomas Ikin. 
 
 Turning our attention to the painters who sent 
 pictures for exhibition and helped to make the gal- 
 leries at the Music Hall attractive to the art-loving 
 public, it has already been mentioned that Benjamin 
 West, the President of the Royal Academy, was 
 represented at the first exhibition of the Society, and 
 his example was followed by his successor in the chair, 
 Sir Thomas Lawrence. Turner and his services to 
 art in Yorkshire have already received some notice. 
 Amongst other Members and Associates of the Royal 
 Academy whose works were to be found on the walls 
 from time to time we find the names of J. Opie, 
 Thomas Stothard, Henry Raeburn, R. Smirke, W. Owen, 
 Alfred E. Chalon, William Collins, and Thomas Uwins. 
 Works of sculpture were shown by John Flaxman, 
 
yohn Rhodes, 
 
 who, in 1 8 1 1 , forwarded a model of a monument pro- 
 posed to be erected at Bradford. 
 
 In the same year the gifted young Nottingham 
 artist, Richard Parkes Bonington, then a mere lad, 
 exhibited four landscapes, the subjects taken from his 
 native county. Associated with the scenery in two of 
 them, buildings are introduced, views of Wollaton Hall, 
 the old Elizabethan seat of the Middleton family, as 
 seen from Nottingham Park. In the brief brilliant 
 career which awaited him, he showed himself an 
 accomplished draughtsman of buildings of architectural 
 importance in Venice and elsewhere, thus following 
 up his early interest in subjects of this class. 
 
 Occasionally to be noticed were the Hobbema-like 
 landscapes of Patrick Nasmyth, and also some early 
 pictures of Edwin Landseer, the celebrated Sir Edwin 
 of later years, who exhibited characteristic paintings 
 of animals, two of them indebted for their titles to 
 lines from poems of Robert Burns. 
 
 It was only to be expected that the artists of Leeds 
 should be adequately represented, and of these painters, 
 the one whose work met with the most recognition, 
 and who enjoyed the most lucrative connection was 
 Charles H. Schwanfelder. At the first exhibition, out 
 of a total number of 198 in the collection, he had 
 twenty-four pictures hung, most of them landscapes, 
 but including some paintings of animals, chiefly dogs 
 and horses, for which he had a well deserved repu- 
 tation. In subsequent years also, he was a large 
 contributor to the annual exhibitions. 
 
 Charles Cope, of Carr Place, the father of 
 C. W. Cope, R.A., a teacher of drawing and a pains- 
 taking artist, was represented by ten pictures ; but of 
 more interest and of much higher quality were the 
 
A Yorkshire Painter. 
 
 l 3 
 
 contributions of Julius Cassar Ibbotson, then living at 
 Masham, but who was a native of Churwell and was 
 educated at a Quaker's School in Leeds. Ibbotson's 
 pictures were much appreciated in Yorkshire, and met 
 with a ready sale. Two of his more important subject 
 paintings, representing scenes from Burns' poems, 
 "Tarn o' Shanter" and "Hallow E'en," should 
 be familiar to the Leeds art-loving public, as they have 
 been exhibited recently at the Fine Art Gallery in 
 company with other pictures belonging to Mr. Fairfax 
 Rhodes, and they formerly appeared on the walls of 
 the New Infirmary in 1868. He is said to have 
 derived his inspiration from Richard Wilson, but there 
 is no doubt that in many of his rustic scenes he was 
 largely influenced by his contemporary and friend, 
 George Morland. 
 
 The Northern Society's exhibition of 1 8 1 1 wit- 
 nessed the advent of Joseph Rhodes, who is referred 
 to in the Leeds Mercury for May 2nd of that year, in 
 the following terms : — " We shall this week introduce 
 to the notice of our amateur friends a young native 
 artist, who, after several years' study at the Royal 
 Academy, is come to reside among us, and who bids 
 fair to become in time an ornament to the English 
 School. This artist, Joseph Rhodes, has no less than 
 twenty-two pictures in the Exhibition." The notice 
 then proceeds to mention in terms of commendation 
 several of his pictures, which were chiefly landscapes 
 and rustic scenes. 
 
 There does not appear to have been an exhibition 
 in 1 8 1 2, but as a result of the financial success of the 
 three preceding years, the Society presented the 
 Artists' Benevolent Fund with a donation of twenty 
 guineas. 
 
yohn Rhodes. 
 
 Now follows an interregnum of ten years, during 
 which period no exhibitions were held, or, if this 
 assumption is incorrect, the writer has failed to meet 
 with any record of them in the newspapers of the 
 time. This lack of enterprise may have been owing 
 to the unsettled state of affairs in the country, which 
 was largely caused by the Napoleonic wars, and the 
 trade depression which followed in their wake. It 
 was therefore not until 1822 that the Society felt 
 justified in making its next appearance in public, and 
 there again Joseph Rhodes was largely represented, and 
 his son, John Rhodes, then a boy of thirteen years of 
 age, exhibited a pencil drawing of Kirkstall Abbey. 
 Concerning the two Rhodes, father and son, and other 
 lesser known Leeds painters who practised their art at 
 the time, we shall have more to say in the succeeding 
 chapter. 
 
 At this exhibition of 1822, architecture was repre- 
 sented by Anthony Salvin, of London, who contributed 
 designs and paintings of old buildings ; and foremost 
 among the local men who were practising this art in 
 Leeds and the surrounding country, and exhibited 
 designs for churches and other buildings of importance, 
 was Richard Dennis Chantrell, who was afterwards to 
 rebuild the Parish Church in Kirkgate. 
 
 A successful exhibition was held in 1823, and the 
 following year the Society varied its programme, and 
 arranged a collection of ancient Masters, for which a 
 Jan Steen was borrowed from the King, and a picture 
 by Rubens lent by Sir Thomas Lawrence. This was 
 the final effort of " The Northern Society for the 
 encouragement of the Fine Arts." Supported at the 
 outset by West, it was not neglected at the last by 
 Lawrence. Leeds was thus greatly indebted to two 
 
A Yorkshire Painter. 
 
 l 5 
 
 successive presidents of the Royal Academy for the 
 sympathy they manifested in its efforts to create an 
 interest in the work of the painter, the sculptor, and 
 the architect. 
 
CHAPTER II. 
 
 Biography of John N. Rhodes, preceded by a 
 notice of the life and career of his father, 
 Joseph Rhodes. 
 
 John Rhodes, who afterwards assumed the additional 
 christian name of Nicholas, the talented son of Joseph 
 Rhodes, a well-known Leeds artist, was born in London 
 in the year 1809, shortly before his father's return to 
 his native town in the West Riding of Yorkshire. 
 
 In artistic ability and perception, spontaneity and 
 vigour of execution, John far surpassed his father, and 
 on account of his superior attainments, and the position 
 he acquired in the ranks of contemporary Yorkshire 
 painters, he, rather than his parent, has been selected 
 as the subject of this monograph. Heredity in this, 
 as in so many other cases, supplemented by the fostering 
 care and instruction of his father, played so important 
 a part in the development of the son's natural talents, 
 and the lives of both were so closely interwoven during 
 his youth and early manhood, that no account of the 
 life of John N. Rhodes would be complete without 
 a sketch of the career of his father. 
 
 The early years of Joseph Rhodes, who was born 
 in Leeds in 1782, were spent as an apprentice to a 
 house painter and decorator in his native town, and his 
 indentures completed, and a knowledge of his trade 
 acquired, he removed to London, where he speedily 
 found employment in the business house of a japanner. 
 The art of japanning and varnishing after the manner 
 
A Yorkshire Painter. 
 
 of the Japanese was then much in vogue, and for some 
 time he was engaged upon designing ornament and 
 painting decorations on cabinets and other articles of 
 furniture, which were afterwards lacquered in the 
 approved manner. 
 
 The night schools of the Royal Academy, then 
 under the superintendence of West and Fuseli, offered 
 inducements to the young artistic craftsman, and there 
 he spent his evenings in study from the life and antique, 
 and before he left he had obtained a thorough know- 
 ledge of the proportions and anatomy of the human 
 figure. Such was the progress he made that we next 
 hear of his being employed in the service of M. San 
 Jusse, a French decorative artist of some repute, upon 
 the adornment of the mansions of the nobility. His 
 leisure time was occupied in making designs for wood 
 engravers, to be afterwards used for illustration purposes. 
 
 Copying pictures of the " Old Masters " for the 
 dealers, for which there was then a considerable demand, 
 next appears to have engaged his attention, and it was not 
 long before this congenial occupation absorbed most of 
 his energies. His application was rewarded by the 
 attainment of great skill in this branch of work, and 
 the masterpieces of Claude, Poussin, and other great 
 artists, besides undergoing repetition at his hands, largely 
 influenced the original landscape paintings which he 
 afterwards produced. 
 
 The state of his wife's health, for he married in 
 London, and it may be a secret longing to return to 
 his native county and the town of his childhood, were 
 responsible for his migration to the north ; and once 
 again settled in Leeds, he established an art school of 
 repute and gave instruction in drawing and painting 
 for a period of nearly forty years. 
 
 D 
 
i8 
 
 jfohn Rhodes. 
 
 His appearance as an exhibitor at the rooms of the 
 Northern Society in i8ii,and the notice which his 
 works attracted at the time, already alluded to in the 
 preceding chapter, fix the date- of his return to Leeds 
 as either the early part of that year, or the latter part 
 of the year preceding. Quiet and unassuming in dis- 
 position, devoted to the pursuit of his art, he not only 
 gave efficient instruction to his pupils, but also produced 
 year by year a large number of pictures in oil, water- 
 colour, and tempera, which are to be met with in good 
 collections in various parts of the country, but more 
 especially in the county of York. 
 
 The repertoire of his art was extensive, and included 
 topographical scenes in the northern and midland 
 counties, landscapes with figures and cattle introduced, 
 street scenes and examples of architecture, fruit and 
 flowers, cottage interiors, portraits, genre and conversa- 
 tion pieces, an occasional flight into the domain of 
 history, and numerous designs and decorative works. 
 His landscapes and fruit and flower pieces were the 
 most prized at the time, but all his work was char- 
 acterized by conscientious care, and most of it attained 
 a fair measure of excellence. He never, however, 
 displayed the vigour and freedom of touch and handling 
 of his material, nor employed the rich palette, which 
 afterwards distinguished the work of his son. 
 
 He was fortunate in his pupils, and many of them 
 achieved success in various branches of work. In 
 portraiture, may be mentioned William Robinson, an 
 artist noted for his sense of colour, who for many 
 years rendered valuable assistance to Sir Thomas 
 Lawrence ; William Frederick, described as " a chaste 
 sweet painter of portraits, dead game, and small moon- 
 lights " ; and Henry Smith, who followed up the 
 
A Yorkshire Painter. 
 
 19 
 
 instruction given to him by several years' study in 
 Italy. Francis William Topham was another talented 
 pupil. He painted figure and general subjects in water 
 colour with considerable ability, and his work is justly 
 appreciated ; and the list would be incomplete without 
 the mention of Thomas Hartley Cromek, who devoted 
 himself to the delineation in water-colour of ruins and 
 architecture, for which he found many subjects during 
 a prolonged residence in Rome. 
 
 Joseph Rhodes may be said to have anticipated in 
 Leeds the art instruction afterwards carried on under 
 the auspices of the South Kensington authorities, for 
 he held evening classes for drawing from the round 
 and antique, and to his night school came several 
 young men, sons of the manufacturers and tradesmen 
 of Leeds, to benefit by his instruction. Few of them 
 purposed to take up art as a profession, but they 
 pursued their studies as a means of self-improvement 
 and culture. Several of them became accomplished 
 amateurs, and by their influence helped to create a 
 taste in the town for pictures and artistic things. The 
 devotion shown to his vocation during an extended 
 career, the recognition by his pupils of his sterling 
 qualities, and the interest taken by the public in his 
 paintings may be said to be responsible for the dis- 
 tinctive title given to Joseph Rhodes of " The Father 
 of Art in Yorkshire." 
 
 In addition to his son John, he had two daughters, 
 one of whom married an artist of the name of 
 S. Massey, whose landscapes and flower-pieces were 
 often to be seen at the Northern Society's exhibitions ; 
 and at the house of his son-in-law, in Grove Terrace, 
 Camp Road, he died, in 1855, a f ter a prolonged 
 illness. 
 
20 
 
 yohn <!A(\ Rhodes. 
 
 Although the work of Joseph Rhodes generally 
 met with a ready sale, he did not, as a rule, obtain 
 remunerative prices, and when he found his son, John, 
 bent upon being a painter, he, knowing but too well 
 the precarious nature of an artist's livelihood, did his 
 utmost to dissuade him from his purpose. Of no avail, 
 however, were his father's words of warning ; a painter 
 the boy would be, and nothing was allowed to stand 
 in the way of the attainment of his object. 
 
 From his earliest years he had watched studies 
 from nature, gradually revealing themselves on the 
 canvases in his father's studio, and, pencil in hand, he 
 was busy trying to copy them, and also indulging 
 himself in tentative sketches of his own imagining. 
 Full of enthusiasm, his industry was unceasing. 
 Nothing would satisfy him unless he could accompany 
 his parent in his rambles in search of subjects for his 
 pencil and brush, and as the result of one of these 
 expeditions we find him returning with a drawing of 
 Kirkstall Abbey, which was accepted by the Hanging 
 Committee of the Northern Society, and exhibited in 
 the saloon of the Music Hall in 1822. He was then 
 only thirteen, and at this early age was able to show 
 something of his powers of draughtsmanship. 
 
 He was educated at a school kept by Jonathan 
 Lockwood, the father of Charles Turner Lockwood, 
 who bequeathed a number of paintings and drawings 
 to the Leeds Art Gallery. There he was taught the 
 ordinary branches of education common to English 
 youth of the middle classes ; but we may be safe in 
 surmising that his thoughts were often elsewhere, and 
 that he longed to be out in the country in the midst 
 of his favourite scenes of rural life. Whether this 
 were the case or no, it was not long before he was 
 
A Yorkshire Painter. 
 
 21 
 
 able to control his own time. Indefatigable in the 
 pursuit of his favourite occupation, he was up with the 
 lark and off into the country, where he quickly met 
 with material suited to his purpose. Homely material 
 it was, but not the less adapted for portrayal when 
 seen through the eyes of an artist. A drover with 
 some cattle, a boy with a donkey, or some children 
 at a cottage door, were all he required for his graphic 
 sketches, which are instinct with life and masterly in 
 execution. 
 
 The suburbs of Leeds, notwithstanding the dis- 
 figuring effects arising from its factories and engineering 
 works, still retain much of their original natural beauty, 
 but in the days of which we speak that beauty was 
 largely unimpaired ; the valley of the Aire was a 
 delight to the eye, the river, a silvery stream winding 
 its way through a richly wooded landscape, free from 
 monotony, and charmingly diversified by hill and vale. 
 Further afield was the valley of the Wharfe, with its 
 still more picturesque sylvan beauty and its romantic 
 associations ; and, taking an easterly direction from home, 
 a walk of a few miles would bring young Rhodes into 
 the heart of the country dedicated to sport, the scene 
 of the Bramham Moor Hunt. 
 
 Quick of observation, his eye would not fail to 
 notice the hue of the huntsman's coat, and its value in 
 the landscape. This note of red in the colour scheme, 
 a complementary contrast to the greens of the landscape, 
 an heritage from the painters of the Dutch School, and 
 often adopted by English painters of the latter part ot 
 the eighteenth century, was often made use of by 
 Rhodes to secure contrast and balance, and he was an 
 adept in knowing just the position in the picture 
 where it would tell with the best effect. Its value was 
 
22 
 
 yohn U^. Rhodes. 
 
 well-known to George Morland, with whom the Leeds 
 painter had certain affinities which will afterwards 
 claim some attention. It is referred to hy George 
 Dawe, R.A., in his biography of Morland, where he 
 states : — " One of Morland's principles was, that a 
 portion of pure red should be introduced somewhere in 
 the picture. Accordingly, his landscapes invariably 
 contain a rustic with a red cloak, coat, or cap, accom- 
 panied by another with a blue jacket or petticoat. He 
 also remarked that there should always be a touch of 
 vermilion in the lips, though they should not be painted 
 entirely with it." 
 
 Returning from his day's ramble in the country, 
 the work of young Rhodes was not over. The night 
 school conducted by his father claimed his attention. 
 There he occupied a dual position, that of an assistant, 
 and also of a pupil, bringing to his task a youthful way 
 of looking at things, and a wonderful capacity for pro- 
 ducing studies and sketches. In fact, so great was his 
 facility and the rapidity with which he worked, that 
 it is said that he was able to produce as many as twelve 
 masterly studies in the course of a long winter's evening. 
 Before long, the fame of the young painter was noised 
 abroad. A glance at his clever studies, full of character 
 and verve, was sufficient for the initiated, who at once 
 recognized his artistic gifts. To admire, was to acquire, 
 and his drawings soon changed hands. 
 
 Among his companions and fellow students were 
 several sons of leading townsmen, cloth merchants and 
 manufacturers, who brought his work before the notice 
 of their parents, and it soon attracted the attention of 
 wealthy collectors and lovers of the art, among whom 
 were numbered George Banks, William Gott, John 
 Sheepshanks, and George Walker, of Killingbeck. 
 
A Yorkshire Painter. 
 
 2 3 
 
 His early sketches were executed in pencil, crayon, 
 Indian ink, burnt sienna, and also in pen and ink in 
 imitation of etching ; and the media of sepia and burnt 
 sienna emphasized by means of the reed pen, he after- 
 wards used with masterly and brilliant results. The 
 latter are still valued most highly by connoisseurs, and 
 by many are preferred to his more ambitious ventures 
 in oil and water colour. No sooner, however, did he 
 adopt the palette, than he shewed himself capable of 
 handling colour with skill, breadth, and power. Like 
 his contemporary Etty, he developed into a fine 
 colourist, and made use of rich and vivid hues with no 
 timid hand. 
 
 Records of his early manhood are not readily met 
 with, and a narrative of events which add interest to 
 the biographies of many other artists is not possible in 
 this case, owing to dearth of material. It is known, 
 however, that he continued to reside in Leeds until his 
 twenty-fourth or twenty-fifth year, his life diversified by 
 excursions into the picturesque districts of Yorkshire 
 in search of subjects for his pencil and brush. 
 
 To a man of his temperament, the free and easy 
 life of the country must have had great attractions. 
 The disposition of the father was not reflected in that 
 of the son. Joseph Rhodes was quiet and reserved in 
 manner, and was careful, painstaking, and steady in his 
 habits, whereas, on the other hand, John was easygoing, 
 communicative, and quick to make friends : as a rule 
 he was prolific with his work, but there were intervals 
 when his brush was lying idle owing to his lack of 
 sobriety. Indeed, he had the typical temperament of 
 the artist, with its good points, its enthusiasms, and its 
 bright ideals, but when not accompanied by a strong 
 sense of duty, its corresponding weaknesses. 
 
24 
 
 yohn <!A(\ Rhodes. 
 
 In common with Morland and Girtin, drink, was 
 his undoing; and had it not been for his indulgence in 
 this destructive habit, he might have lived to an 
 advanced age, instead of being cut off in the maturity 
 of his career, just at the time when he had achieved a 
 thorough mastery of his own particular style, and a 
 prosperous future was awaiting him. 
 
 That he was conscious of the inroads on his con- 
 stitution made by this lamentable weakness, was evident 
 at the time, and known to some of his friends. He 
 made several attempts at reform, but with indifferent 
 success. Lapses of insobriety were succeeded by 
 intervals of mental brightness and industry, lasting for 
 a few weeks at a time, in which he would paint a 
 picture of merit, but in the latter part of his life his 
 capacity for production was seriously diminished. 
 
 In speaking of this frailty, without unduly ex- 
 tenuating his weakness, the day in which he lived and 
 the circumstances of his environment must be borne in 
 mind. We must remember the drinking habits of 
 society in the early part of the nineteenth century, and 
 the proneness to over-indulgence. We must also re- 
 collect the class of country people with whom Rhodes 
 was brought in contact. His world had many similari- 
 ties with that of Morland, although it was provincial, 
 compared with the metropolitan one of the earlier 
 painter. The society met with in his wanderings — 
 the cattle drover, the farm-labourer, the stable lads, the 
 alehouse tapster, gipsies, picturesque in their rags and 
 tatters, and the free and easy intercourse with all sorts 
 and conditions of men, naturally disposed him to a 
 "Hail, fellow, well met" attitude in his intercourse 
 with the world at large. 
 
 i 
 
Plate IV. — Lad and Donkey. 
 
A Yorkshire Painter. 
 
 25 
 
 In addition to his rustic models and acquaintances, 
 Rhodes must have met and occasionally associated with 
 his brother painters. With some who lived in Leeds, 
 and more particularly with those who enjoyed his 
 father's tuition, he was probably on familiar terms. 
 Of these, Cromek, Topham, Frederick, and Robinson 
 have already been referred to. 
 
 At the time when J. N. Rhodes exhibited his 
 maiden effort at the Northern Society's Exhibition, 
 Schwanfelder, who was a contemporary of his father, 
 was represented by a large array of pictures. Did 
 this well-known Leeds artist — who had more than a 
 local reputation, and enjoyed the distinctive title of 
 "Animal Painter to King George III." — extend the 
 hand of fellowship to the youthful genius ? It would 
 be interesting to know ! 
 
 Schwanfelder painted horses and dogs, and was in 
 demand for pictures of favourite winners of prize 
 cups. Sporting scenes, the pursuit of the fox, grouse 
 shooting, and other similar subjects were customary 
 material for his brush. Rhodes also painted animals 
 and occasional pictures of sport. Both of them 
 painted landscapes and rural scenes. Groups of gipsies 
 with the picturesque accompaniments of their encamp- 
 ments, their caravans, horses or donkeys grazing at 
 liberty or tethered to an adjoining fence, dogs on the 
 alert, and the tripod with its appetising pot au feu were 
 favourite subjects of the two men. 
 
 A portrait of Schwanfelder, painted by himself, 
 hangs in the Leeds Town Hall, and he received 
 several commissions for portraiture from families in 
 the neighbourhood. Rhodes, on the other hand, may 
 have accomplished a portrait now and again, but he 
 was more at home with the face and figure of a 
 
26 
 
 yohn J^. Rhodes. 
 
 country yokel or farm lad, and could not readily be 
 prevailed upon to delineate on canvas the features of 
 more distinguished persons. 
 
 Julius Cassar Ibbetson, said by some to have been 
 born at Churwell, in the vicinity of Leeds, and by 
 others to have drawn his first breath at Masham, was 
 an old man when Rhodes was a boy, and he died in 
 1 8 17. Doubtless he met the boy's father at the 
 Northern Society's exhibitions where he was usually 
 well represented, and the qualities and characteristics 
 of his work would be known to the young artist. 
 
 Ibbetson and George Morland had intimate associa- 
 tions with one another, and, although particulars of 
 their friendship are not abundant, it appears from 
 Nettleship's life of the latter that in one case, at any 
 rate, they both worked upon the same picture, in 
 which the landscape was put in by Ibbetson, and the 
 figures by Morland. Yorkshire was not unknown to 
 Morland, for he made some stay at Whitby and painted 
 coast scenes in the neighbourhood. Whether he 
 visited Leeds is not recorded, but it is stated on good 
 authority that he and Joseph Rhodes met and were 
 acquainted with one another. That being the case, 
 the gifted animal painter, could he have foreseen the 
 future, would have been interested in knowing that a 
 Leeds boy, the son of his friend, was destined, among 
 others, to carry on the practice common to himself 
 of painting animals and scenes of rustic life. Whether 
 the younger Rhodes was influenced to any large extent 
 by works he may have seen by Morland we cannot 
 definitely say. That the class of subjects selected by 
 the older artist appealed to the younger, is, however, 
 self-evident. In their mode of technique there is not 
 much resemblance, Morland's being the more scholarly 
 
A Yorkshire Painter. 
 
 27 
 
 of the two, and bearing evidence of more careful 
 training. Their sense of colour also differed. That 
 of Rhodes, as seen in most of his paintings in oil, was 
 pitched in a much higher key than that of his prede- 
 cessor, whose colour was generally lower in tone and 
 usually pervaded by a note of silvery grey. 
 
 The Lock wood bequest of 1891 has put the Leeds 
 Art Gallery in the possession of several pictures and 
 drawings by the two Rhodes, and amongst other in- 
 teresting and valuable examples from the same source 
 are two landscapes by a little-known Yorkshire artist 
 of the name of Thomas Burras. Thomas Burras was 
 one of Joseph Rhodes' pupils who achieved success in 
 his after life by painting subjects after the manner of 
 his master, which are noticeable for some charm of 
 colour and feeling. The son of his master and Burras 
 would be well acquainted, and it is interesting to see 
 the work of the two pupils in the Permanent Collec- 
 tion of the city in which they both spent their early 
 days. 
 
 From this notice of some of the contemporaries 
 of the two Rhodes we must return to the career of 
 John, and the records of his life. We left him at the 
 time of his early manhood, his training at the hands 
 of his father completed, and embarking upon life on 
 his own account. 
 
 During his residence in Leeds his facility for 
 turning out sketches, drawings and paintings was 
 phenomenal — to such an extent, in fact, that it was 
 said the town was inundated by them. In addition to 
 the works he sold to his wealthy patrons, he could 
 always dispose of his extra output to a sympathetic 
 dealer in the town, a bibliophile and antiquary, who 
 had a corner shop in the narrow and picturesque Boar 
 
28 
 
 yohn Rhodes. 
 
 Lane of those bygone days. There, in the windows, 
 were to be seen exhibited week by week, a dozen or 
 more studies, made in most cases direct from nature, 
 and priced at a guinea a-piece. Many of these 
 sketches, vivid in colour and dashing in execution, 
 were painted on squares of millboard, in size varying 
 from twelve by ten inches to ten by eight inches. Some 
 of his more hasty performances he did not hesitate to 
 call " pot boilers." Pot boilers they may have been, 
 in the sense of a means of providing the necessary 
 means of existence, but even the most rapid, and it 
 may be careless impressions of landscapes or rural life 
 were characterised by marked individuality. 
 
 Works of greater importance, showing more care, 
 and more detailed in composition, ranging in price 
 from two to five guineas, he often painted on panel, 
 sixteen by twelve inches being an average size. 
 
 They represented such scenes as the following : — 
 
 "The Woodcutter's Return." — The woodman, 
 laden with firewood, returning from his day's work, 
 accompanied by two of his children. 
 
 " The Sportsman." — A man on a duck-shooting 
 expedition, with his favourite dog, in a rainy 
 November landscape with drenched willows blown 
 by the wind, seen against a grey cloudy sky. 
 
 " Children catching butterflies." 
 
 " Dinner-time." Boy seated at his mid-day meal, 
 his dog at his feet, in a rock-strewn moorland landscape. 
 
 "Boy asleep under a haystack." 
 
 " An orphan boy and girl begging at the door of 
 a cottage." 
 
 The title " Sheep in a landscape " was often 
 adopted by Rhodes for his numerous studies in which 
 sheep were depicted. He was extremely skilful in 
 
Plate V. — The Gleaner. 
 
A Yorkshire Painter. 
 
 29 
 
 drawing these animals and grouping them in the most 
 life-like manner; and whatever the medium he used, 
 whether pencil, pen and wash, water colour, or oil, 
 they are nearly always admirable. 
 
 Curiously enough, one of his pictures was called 
 " Robert Burns seated under a tree." Whether this 
 was the artist's name for his subject, or whether it was 
 given to it by one of its later owners does not tran- 
 spire. Certain it is, that it could not have been 
 sketched from the life, as the Ayrshire poet died 
 before J. N. Rhodes was born. This picture was for 
 many years the property of the late Mr. John Rhodes, 
 a well-known Leeds connoisseur, who, however, was 
 in no way related to the painter, and who had a fine 
 collection of pictures, including several good examples 
 of the work of both Joseph and J. N. Rhodes, which 
 he bequeathed to his son, Mr. Fairfax Rhodes, of 
 Brockhampton Park, Gloucestershire. 
 
 A portrait of Burns also appears in the catalogue 
 of pictures exhibited in the old Music Hall in 1845. 
 In this case, it was the property of John Hold, who 
 also possessed other examples of the art of J. N. 
 Rhodes, and who was evidently a lover of his work. 
 Robert Burns, the poet of the countryside and of rustic 
 life, must have appealed to Rhodes the painter of 
 similar scenes and incidents, and finding a suitable 
 model in an appropriate environment, he may have 
 named him after his favourite author. 
 
 A knowledge of Burns after the flesh being an 
 impossibility, Rhodes struck up an acquaintance with 
 another writer of verses, John Nicholson, a fellow 
 Yorkshireman, known by the name of "The Airedale 
 Poet," whom he met in his wanderings, and whose 
 irregular habits matched corresponding ones of his own. 
 
3° 
 
 jfohn U^, Rhodes. 
 
 The author of " Airedale and other poems," " The 
 Poacher," and a drama called "The Siege of Bradford," 
 was patronised by the Earl of Harewood and Lord 
 Ribblesdale, and was received • at their mansions as a 
 welcome guest, his amusing conversation and facility 
 for impromptu verse-making, rendering him a lively 
 addition to the company. 
 
 At the age of twenty-five or twenty-six, Rhodes 
 had reached such a standard of excellence in his work, 
 that almost everything which passed through his hands 
 from that time onwards to the date of his premature 
 death, is of interest to us, and shews what he was able 
 to produce in the maturity of his powers. As early 
 even as 1830, when he was just of age, he was capable 
 of turning out pencil studies of figures, so admirably 
 drawn and of such excellent quality, that in comparing 
 them with some of Morland's sketches of farmyard 
 rustics, they do not materially suffer in juxtaposition. At 
 this period he may have been living with his father, who, 
 as before mentioned, occupied for some years the back 
 premises of the fine stone mansion of the Bischoffs, in 
 North Street. 
 
 Following his residence in Leeds, it is said that 
 John spent some time in Wakefield, where he found 
 a patron in Mr. Stephenson, of Newstead Hall, near 
 that city, who was a liberal purchaser of his pictures, 
 and the owner of about fifty examples, chiefly in oils, 
 some seventy years ago. More recent information 
 makes it appear that he never permanently lived at 
 Wakefield, but was in the habit of paying extended 
 visits to a well-to-do aunt who resided at Alverthorpe, 
 in the vicinity of the city, and whilst there, made the 
 acquaintance of some of the gentry in the neighbour- 
 hood, to whom he disposed of his paintings. 
 
Plate VI. 
 TURNED OUT. 
 
A Yorkshire Painter. 
 
 3 1 
 
 After a time he married, but the union was not a 
 happy one, and need not claim further attention. 
 There were no children, and his wife lived to survive 
 him. 
 
 He next made his headquarters at Skipton, which 
 was a good centre for his country studies, and many 
 of his mature works were painted at this time. 
 Whilst residing there he was in the habit of frequent- 
 ing the shop of an old barber, noted for his racy 
 conversation and fund of anecdote, who had a son who 
 afterwards achieved distinction, and was rewarded with 
 the title of Lord St. Leonards. At Skipton, it is 
 supposed, he picked up a rustic of the name of " Billy 
 Wade," who proved a most useful model, and whom 
 he painted in various attitudes.* This long-legged 
 country lad appears in two or three of his most spirited 
 sketches, and when we afterwards come to consider the 
 work of the painter more intimately from the critical 
 standpoint, in the succeeding chapter, he will receive 
 further attention. 
 
 Rhodes was thus at this time in the heart of a 
 grazing country, and there he would meet drovers with 
 cattle and flocks of sheep, boys and dogs in attendance, 
 on their way to market. The title, " Boy with Sheep," 
 appears over and over again in the catalogues of his 
 exhibited works. It is occasionally varied by the 
 alteration, " Sheep in a Landscape"; and " Landscape 
 with Cattle " is another familiar, but not quite so 
 common, designation. 
 
 From Skipton to Barden and Bolton, into the 
 midst of beautiful and romantic scenery, is not a long 
 journey, and in one of the wooded dells he may have 
 met with the subject of his charming drawing in sepia, 
 
 *See Plate II. 
 
32 John $Q Modes. 
 
 known by the name of " The Deer's Rendezvous," the 
 record of one of his day's work in the year 1837. 
 Neither were Ilkley and Rombalds Moor far away, 
 and sketches of the bleak, wild moorland scenery so 
 impressed his mind that several water-colours and an 
 occasional oil-painting were the outcome of his rambles 
 in the neighbourhood. A small water-colour, " Near 
 Ilkley," in the Leeds Art Gallery, represents one of 
 these scenes — a group of rocks in a wild moorland 
 landscape, with a horse and pedestrians in the distance 
 wending their way along a rough cart road which skirts 
 the crag and vanishes over the crest of the hill. 
 
 An oil painting, formerly in the collection of the 
 late John Rhodes and now in the possession of Mr. 
 Thomas Winn, of Leeds, is another example of the 
 scenery of Rombalds Moor, to which is imparted the 
 addition of human interest. A country lad in cordu- 
 roys is seated at the foot of one of the boulders with 
 which the moorland is strewn, and is enjoying his 
 noonday meal, his dog at his side keeping him company. 
 Admitting that the dog is not quite so successful as some 
 of his animals, the boy, on the other hand, is capitally 
 drawn and painted, and the greyish green tones of the 
 landscape are excellently rendered. The greyness of 
 tone which appears to have been a characteristic of the 
 atmospheric condition of things during Rhodes' resi- 
 dence in Skipton, and the prevalence of cloudy skies 
 which influenced him almost imperceptibly and caused 
 his paintings to become cold in colour, eventually led 
 to his departure. 
 
 Did he tire of his country life, or was the market 
 for his work in Yorkshire becoming exhausted ? Did 
 he think there was more chance of acquiring fame 
 and fortune in the metropolis, than in a continued 
 
A Yorkshire Painter. 33 
 
 residence in the north ? We do not know, but it may 
 be that one or all of these reasons influenced him in 
 coming to a decision to try his luck in London. 
 
 There we find him residing at 33, Sussex Street, 
 in 1839, in which year he exhibited a picture, entitled 
 " Sit up, Sirrah," at the British Institution. In the 
 two following years he was living at Holloway, and 
 he again was represented in the same building by two 
 works under the titles of "Which is the tallest?" and 
 " Horse and Donkey." In 1 842 he appeared at the 
 British Institution for the last time, contributing an 
 important work, called " Going to the hayfield," its 
 size being three feet three inches by two feet nine 
 inches, a larger canvas than most of his usual pictures. 
 
 At the Royal Academy Rhodes only exhibited 
 twice — a picture in 1841, called "The young bird," 
 and another example in 1 842, under the title of " Give 
 it a bit of bread." His work is said to have been 
 hung in some other London exhibitions, and to have 
 attracted the attention of the press, who noticed it 
 favourably, and did not withhold a fair measure of 
 praise. It is, furthermore, stated that " his paintings, 
 drawings, and pen etchings, were highly appreciated 
 by collectors." In one quarter, at any rate, his work 
 met with a ready sale, for the well-known publishers 
 of prints and artistic literature, the Messrs. Ackerman, 
 in the Strand, purchased from him all the sketches 
 and drawings he did not otherwise dispose of. 
 
 A portrait of Rhodes is in existence, belonging to 
 Mr. J. R. Pickering, of "The Beeches," Harehills 
 Lane, Leeds, a nephew of the artist, which was 
 painted by Joseph Rhodes, from memory, after his 
 son's death. From it, we are able to form some 
 impression of his appearance and characteristics. He 
 
 F 
 
34 
 
 yohn J7\(\ Rhodes. 
 
 is pictured as a young man with decided features, dark 
 hair, grey eyes, and rather sallow complexion. He is 
 dressed in black, with a liberal expanse of shirt front, 
 and wears an old-fashioned cravat of the period. 
 
 This portrait corroborates in many of its features 
 a pencil drawing of the artist, in his early manhood, 
 belonging to Dr. Abbott, of Aberford, which is 
 described in a succeeding chapter. 
 
 A gradual deterioration in health, accompanied by 
 an affection of the eyes, the former the result of his 
 irregular habits, and the latter caused by the close 
 study required for his work, interfered with his 
 intention of making a permanent home in the south. 
 His condition eventually became so serious that he 
 found it necessary to return to Yorkshire, where he 
 could receive the nursing and care from his relatives 
 and friends that his case demanded. The change of 
 air and scene proved beneficial for a time, but the 
 good effects were not lasting, as his constitution was 
 too seriously impaired to be permanently reinstated. 
 He went to live in lodgings in the suburbs of Leeds, 
 and was able after awhile to resume his work to 
 some extent, and, notwithstanding the interruptions 
 caused by illness, he made several drawings and 
 painted one or two pictures, in which he displayed 
 something of his old vigour and skill. He continued 
 painting until the day before his decease, and just 
 managed to finish an important work which was 
 purchased by the late Thomas Eagland from Joseph 
 Rhodes after his son's death. Dr. Eagland, of Harro- 
 gate, the present owner of the picture, has an 
 autograph letter referring to it written by Joseph 
 Rhodes, accompanied by a sketch of the subject. It 
 reads as follows : — " The annexed sketch of a picture 
 
A Yorkshire Painter. 
 
 35 
 
 painted by J. N. Rhodes was the last picture he ever 
 finished, which was a day or two before his death — he 
 worked upon it in my painting room under my own 
 eye — it has never been out of my possession from that 
 day to this, nor was ever offered to any person living 
 till I mentioned it to Mr. Eagland, who purchased it 
 of me August 17th, 1846. 
 
 "As witness my hand, Joseph Rhodes." 
 " As a work of J. N. Rhodes, for depth of tone, 
 harmony of colour, truth of character and poetick 
 feeling, I consider it a very fine specimen." 
 
 A fit of apoplexy was the immediate cause of the 
 artist's death, which took place at a cottage in Hare- 
 hills Lane, near Leeds, in 1842, when he had only 
 attained the age of thirty-three. 
 
 For the last five years of his life, he had been 
 producing work of admirable quality, including several 
 pictures of importance in which his own individuality 
 was strongly marked. He was on the threshold of a 
 successful, if not brilliant career, and had additional 
 years been granted to him, and those years been devoted 
 to the steady pursuit of his art, it is probable that his 
 name, instead of being practically unknown except in 
 the town where he spent the greater part of his life, 
 would have been handed down to later generations as 
 one of the foremost painters of landscape and rustic 
 scenes who flourished during the earlier half of the 
 nineteenth century. 
 
CHAPTER III. 
 
 The Art of John N. Rhodes. 
 
 The artistic production of John N. Rhodes was com- 
 prehensive, and included work in a variety of methods : — 
 pencil and crayon, pen and ink, monochrome drawings 
 in Indian ink, sepia and burnt sienna, water-colour and 
 oil. He often combined two of the vehicles mentioned, 
 and added emphasis to his monochrome and water- 
 colour drawings by the use of pen touches. 
 
 He was not equally fortunate in all the means he 
 adopted to record impressions of rustic life and country 
 scenes, and an endeavour will be made in considering 
 the examples of his work, to shew where he achieved 
 his successes, and also to point out any shortcomings 
 which characterise other of his productions. 
 
 A pencil is the usual implement put into the hands 
 of a boy who wishes to represent something which he 
 has seen; and a pencil drawing, a sketch of Kirkstall 
 Abbey, already referred to, was his first youthful effort 
 considered sufficiently meritorious to be hung in the 
 Northern Society's Exhibition. From this early success 
 to his later days, he proved himself an adept in the use 
 of this simple medium, and several of his authentic 
 studies in pencil and crayon can still be studied, and 
 reveal to us his masterly touch, and the intimate way 
 in which he saw and represented his subjects. 
 
 The French artist, Watteau, splendid painter and 
 colourist as he was, felt at his best when he was 
 expressing himself by means of crayon, red and black; 
 and although no attempt is made to compare for a 
 
Plate VIII. — Girl at Cottage Door. 
 
A Yorkshire Painter. 
 
 37 
 
 moment the homely Yorkshire painter with the brilliant 
 creator of fetes ga/antes, Rhodes had this quality in 
 common with his illustrious predecessor, that in his 
 case also, his drawings in pencil and crayon are worthy 
 to rank equally with the more important and elaborate 
 products of his brush.* 
 
 Some of his pencil sketches of farm lads and country 
 folk, in the apparent ease with which they are drawn, 
 and the knowledge they evidence of rustic character and 
 attitude, extended even to the way in which their forms 
 accommodate themselves to their roughly made clothing, 
 recall to one's mind similar work by George Morland.j* 
 Like Morland they represent the bucolic type more 
 often than not, at intervals of rest. As it has been 
 observed, "All, or nearly all Morland's works are rest- 
 ful or lazy in subject," so in like manner the same 
 description may be applied to those of Rhodes. The 
 work of the day is generally either over or it is sus- 
 pended for a time — the gleaners are returning from the 
 cornfield, the woodman is trudging homewards from 
 his work in the forest, a boy is asleep under a haycock, 
 a dog is sitting up and begging for a scrap of meat, or 
 a gipsy is resting by the way. 
 
 Where his studies represent action, the sense of 
 movement is sometimes well conveyed, as may be seen 
 in a partially finished oil sketch in the possession of 
 Dr. Abbott, of Aberford, which represents a woman 
 wading a stream ; she is turning round and beckoning 
 to a frightened-looking child to follow her. Of arrested 
 motion, Mr. Gilbert Middleton's " Gleaner " J is a 
 capital example. In this little picture, noticeable for 
 its fine colour, the easy posture and swing of the female 
 figure is capitally indicated. 
 
 * See Plate III. f See Plate IV. J See Plate V. 
 
38 
 
 yohn Rhodes. 
 
 Rhodes' pencil studies of rustic subjects are also very 
 charming, and Mr. Richard Wilson has the good 
 fortune to own several examples which are as clever as 
 could be desired. The artist was fond of representing 
 his figures with their backs turned to the spectator ; 
 another characteristic common to Morland, and in two 
 or three of these drawings this treatment is to be 
 noticed. 
 
 In more serious portraiture his pencil was also 
 occasionally used. He made drawings of T. Babington 
 Macaulay, afterwards Lord Macaulay, at the time he 
 was Member of Parliament for Leeds, and also a draw- 
 ing of Joshua Bower, Esq., a local worthy. They were 
 both afterwards drawn on the stone by L. Haghe, and 
 the lithographs were published by Day and Haghe, 
 lithographers to the King. In speaking of these 
 portraits, whilst admitting the skill with which the 
 figures are drawn, and the clever shading of the heads, 
 and the upper portions of the busts, it cannot be said 
 that the facial expression in either case is altogether 
 pleasing. Portraiture was not his metier. His drawings 
 of peasants are excellent and lifelike, but when he came 
 to represent more distinguished members of society, he 
 in some way lacked the necessary inspiration. 
 
 On the other hand, his studies of animal life are 
 admirable. His dogs and sheep he often sketched in 
 pencil, adding a little shading and a slight tint to give 
 an indication of the prevailing note of colour. An 
 important oil painting entitled " Turned Out,"* the 
 property of Mrs. L. Wedderburn, was exhibited in 1868 
 at the Leeds New Infirmary. It represents a dog of 
 the terrier species, crouching down on the snow by the 
 side of a door which denies him entrance. His 
 
 * See Plate VI. 
 
A Yorkshire Painter. 
 
 39 
 
 pathetic eyes and woe-begone attitude are graphically 
 rendered, and in looking at the canvas one feels that 
 the artist had thoroughly entered into sympathy with 
 his subject. What could be more expressive than the 
 pitiful appearance of the poor animal ! One can almost 
 see his flesh creep with the searching cold and thawing 
 snow. Rhodes knew how to paint snow, and in this 
 case the slight bluish tone indicative of thaw is true to 
 nature. The grey sheen on the dog's brown coat is 
 also well rendered; and in like manner the old door 
 with its bleached covering of paint is good in texture. 
 A study of the same animal, but varying slightly from 
 the attitude shewn in the finished picture, is owned by 
 the writer. Here, the dog is drawn in red crayon in 
 a bold sketchy manner, and it in no way loses the 
 expressive character of the more highly elaborated 
 work.* 
 
 Sepia or burnt sienna was the medium he usually 
 employed for his sketches of sheep, combined with the 
 use of the reed pen and brown ink, to give emphasis 
 and piquancy to the general effect. Pencil and crayon 
 studies of these timid animals are, however, also to be 
 met with, and in all cases, whether in pencil or in 
 monochrome, they reveal a thorough knowledge of 
 the form and distinctive character of the species. 
 
 Now that Rhodes' monochrome work in burnt 
 sienna and sepia has been mentioned, we are touching 
 upon a branch of his output in which he was extremely 
 successful, more successful in fact than when he made 
 use of positive colour in his water colour drawings. 
 For vigour, spontaneity, and the skill with which he 
 seized the salient characteristics of his subjects, they are 
 worthy in many instances to rank with the drawings 
 
 * See Plate VII. 
 
4° 
 
 yohn Rhodes. 
 
 of masters of established reputation, and are highly 
 esteemed by connoisseurs. In looking at them, the 
 thought occurs to one's mind — was Rhodes familiar 
 with the drawings made by Turner for the Liber 
 Studiorum, and with the mezzotinted plates them- 
 selves ? The numbers of this publication appeared at 
 irregular intervals from the year 1807 to 1819-20, and 
 created a large amount of interest in artistic circles. 
 During that period Turner paid several visits to his 
 friend, Mr. Walter Fawkes, at Farnley Hall, and one of 
 his most interesting plates, the " Crypt of Kirkstall 
 Abbey," resulted from one of his Yorkshire journeys. 
 
 Taking into consideration the popularity of this 
 series of prints, together with the knowledge of 
 Turner's visits to the north, and the exhibition of his 
 works from time to time on the walls of the Northern 
 Society's galleries, it is extremely likely that Rhodes 
 was acquainted with the important publication, and 
 attempted after his own manner to obtain somewhat 
 similar effects. 
 
 His general method may be described as follows : — 
 A light wash of sepia or sienna was laid upon the 
 paper on which he had sketched the general outline 
 of his subject: it was afterwards worked upon with 
 stronger similar colour with the brush, the lights were 
 washed or rubbed out, and emphasis and crispness 
 given, where required, by the reed pen and brown ink. 
 In other cases he varied this method by omitting the 
 preliminary wash of colour, and left his lights on the 
 paper instead of washing them out afterwards. 
 
 In the Leeds Art Gallery an excellent example of 
 this class of work is to be found under the title of 
 "The Deer's Rendezvous." It is signed J. N. Rhodes, 
 and dated 1837. This charming sketch, which has 
 
A Yorkshire Painter. 
 
 4i 
 
 already been noticed incidentally in the previous 
 chapter, depicts a woodland glade with a group of 
 deer seen through a vista of trees. The animals are 
 on the alert, and their heads are turned in expectation 
 of some disturbing influence which is likely to put 
 them to flight. 
 
 But if anyone interested in Rhodes' work in sepia 
 and sienna wishes to see a really good series of his 
 drawings in monochrome, he should obtain leave to 
 inspect the small collection of Mr. Samuel Ingham, of 
 Headingley Hall, which has been selected with the 
 greatest care. The examples — about twelve in num- 
 ber — are, almost without exception, picked specimens, 
 executed during the years when the artist was at the 
 maturity of his powers, and are thoroughly represen- 
 tative in subject and treatment. So clever are they, 
 so masterly and vigorous, and so full of insight in 
 revealing the life and changing aspects of the country- 
 side, that he would be a bold man, who, after seeing 
 these drawings, were to dispute Rhodes' claim to 
 recognition as an artist of high rank. 
 
 Before passing on, let us consider a few of them. 
 Taking them in order of execution, there are two little 
 sienna drawings, neither of them signed nor dated, 
 which on account of their comparative delicacy of 
 workmanship may be safely attributed to his middle 
 period. A Scotch lad in a moorland scene is the 
 subject of one of them, and he is represented in high- 
 land tartan and bonnet, seated by a boulder with his 
 dog at his side, in a bare looking landscape with a 
 background of distant mountains. The other drawing 
 has no title, but it may suitably be called " The Rain- 
 bow." A farm man is seen taking shelter under a tree 
 during a heavy shower, and a rainbow indicates the 
 
 G 
 
4 2 
 
 jfohn Rhodes. 
 
 temporary nature of the downpour. Here the atmos- 
 pheric effect of rain and sunny gleams is quite in the 
 manner of Turner, and the distant landscape is indicated 
 with true artistic insight. In both of these drawings 
 pen-and-ink work is used with good effect. 
 
 In sepia, Rhodes made use of the warm and cold 
 varieties of the colour, and seemed to know intuitively 
 which of the two would suit his subject the best. 
 "The Blind Man," signed and dated 1836, is a good 
 example of the warmer colour with reed pen touches, 
 and strikingly portrays the pathetic figure of an old 
 bareheaded blind man accompanied by his dog, holding 
 out his hand and feeling for the latch of his cottage 
 door. Another specimen, later in date, is a drawing 
 in which a girl of the "Little Red Riding Hood" 
 type is introduced, but as here represented, she is hatless 
 and hoodless. No wolf appears on the scene to make 
 treacherous friendship, but she trips along a woodland 
 roadway in happy confidence with no anticipation of 
 danger, and a dog trotting by her side is present to 
 protect her in case of need. The tree trunks crowned 
 with thickly clustering foliage, which border the road- 
 way, are drawn with knowledge, and add to the beauty 
 of a really clever drawing. Clever also in drawing, 
 and as a study in light and shade, is a sketch of a girl 
 at a cottage door.* 
 
 Turning to his water-colours in the cooler shade of 
 monochrome, we come across a characteristic study of 
 sheep — animals which as already said he had the gift 
 of representing on paper or canvas with verve and truth 
 to nature. Of the two sheep which he has sketched, 
 one is lying down and the other is standing ; both are 
 well modelled, and the texture of their woolly fleeces 
 
 *See Plate VIII. 
 
A Yorkshire Painter. 
 
 43 
 
 is admirably rendered.* Of larger size, signed and 
 dated 1838, is a pleasing picture in which a girl and 
 a donkey appear in a landscape setting. The donkey 
 has been liberated from the thatched shed or stable in 
 the background, and is being fed out of the girl's apron, 
 which she holds up Tjefore her. The figures and land- 
 scape surroundings are put in with much spirit, and 
 bold reed pen touches help the general effect. 
 
 Another small picture executed by Rhodes two 
 years afterwards is different in character, and represents 
 him in a sympathetic attitude to certain aspects of 
 nature not usually found in most of his work, j- This 
 little landscape, with its showery yet luminous sky, its 
 wind-swept trees and stretch of meadow land across 
 which a cart is slowly moving, is full of poetic feeling. 
 It has something in common on the one hand with 
 Constable, and on the other with the imaginative work 
 of some of our modern landscape artists ; and although 
 one cannot say it recalls a Peppercorn, a MacLachlan, 
 or a Macaulay Stevenson, it has some of the qualities 
 which give a charm to their impressions of nature seen 
 in its many varying moods. 
 
 Rhodes occasionally was content to draw with pen 
 and ink only, to obtain results similar to those produced 
 from the etched copper plate, without attempting to 
 enhance the effects by a resort to washes of colour. 
 In one or two of these drawings, so sharp and incisive 
 is the pen work, that it requires the eye of an expert 
 to determine whether they are impressions from the 
 etched plate, or are executed in pen and ink. 
 
 An example is to be found in an interleaved illus- 
 tration bound up with a valuable copy of Whitaker's 
 " History of Leeds," together with his work on Loidis 
 
 * See Plate IX. f See Plate X. 
 
44 
 
 "John Rhodes. 
 
 and Elmete, in the Leeds City Reference Library, which 
 is also supplemented by several other drawings by Joseph 
 and John N. Rhodes to which reference will afterwards 
 be made. The drawing in question is a sketch of Robin 
 Hood's Grave, Kirklees Park, and can only be described 
 as a dainty bit of delicate work very finely executed. 
 It is dated 1829, and bears a monogram signature 
 which might apply either to Joseph or John Rhodes. 
 It is, however, attributed to the latter, although it may 
 possibly have been the work of his father. 
 
 A more characteristic and important drawing in 
 which there appears to be no doubt as to the author- 
 ship is to be found in Mr. R. Wilson's Armley 
 collection. It is a very clever pen and black ink 
 drawing of " The Old Skyrack Oak," at Headingley, 
 and is signed J. N. Rhodes delt. 1836.* The touch 
 is nervous and delicate, and the work is full of 
 character. It shows a thorough knowledge of the 
 anatomy of tree form, and the silhouette of the bare 
 branches seen against the sky is admirable — a study 
 quite in the vein of Rembrandt. To add life and 
 interest to the ancient landmark, a sheep is introduced 
 into the picture, and is shown rubbing its head against 
 the old tree trunk. 
 
 In the same collection is a capital study of a boy 
 which would do no discredit to Morland, and is much 
 bolder than the work just described. j" The figure in 
 the first instance has been sketched in pencil, and has 
 afterwards been gone over with a reed or quill pen and 
 red colour. 
 
 Mr. S. Ingham has a good carefully sketched black 
 and white pen drawing, which is signed and dated 1836. 
 A girl in a low-necked frock is seated in a high-backed 
 
 * See Plate XI. f See Pla te XII. 
 
A Yorkshire Painter. 
 
 45 
 
 chair engaged in nursing a baby, which, judging 
 from the presence of a wooden cradle on rockers at 
 her side, with its rumpled covers, suggests that it has 
 only recently given up its occupant. 
 
 We now come to a consideration of Rhodes' water- 
 colour drawings, and it may be well to mention at the 
 outset that this examination is beset with some 
 difficulties. In his earlier work, John was naturally 
 very much influenced by his father, and repeated the 
 older artistic methods and scheme of colour. Father 
 and son often worked upon the same drawings. Many 
 of them are not signed, and even when they bear a 
 signature it cannot always be said to be authentic, and 
 in many cases was doubtless affixed by the owner of 
 the drawing. Again, both painters signed themselves 
 from time to time " J. Rhodes," and it was not until 
 John's boyhood was passed, that he made use of the 
 additional initial N. to distinguish his pictures from 
 those of his parent. An anecdote relating to his adop- 
 tion of the second christian name of Nicholas, is still 
 current in the family, and is said to have come about in 
 this way — returning home one day, when a youth, he 
 found a small chimney sweep, or " climbing boy," as 
 he was formerly called, lying asleep on the kitchen 
 hearth with his head reposing on a bag of soot. He 
 was rather taken with the incident, and after sketching 
 the boy he woke him and asked him his name. 
 Nicholas, was the reply. In a whimsical mood he 
 said, " Then I will call myself Nicholas, too," and 
 thus what he uttered in jest he afterwards carried out 
 in earnest.* 
 
 * Mr. Fenteman gives his second name as Norrison, and Nicholson 
 has been adopted by others ; but I have preferred to make use of the 
 name given to me by surviving members of the family. 
 
46 
 
 jfohn Rhodes. 
 
 Returning to the question of the uncertainties of 
 attribution, we meet with drawings ascribed to J. N. 
 Rhodes and occasionally bearing his name, which to 
 all appearances might reasonably be expected to have 
 been produced by the senior artist. In the midst of 
 these perplexities we are compelled to generalise, and 
 to assume that in cases where the work is carefully 
 finished, detailed, and rather laboured in manner, the 
 drawings may safely be ascribed to Joseph Rhodes, and 
 that where they betray more haste in execution, and 
 a freer and looser method of drawing, they may be 
 attributed to John. But even this rough and ready 
 method of generalisation must be adopted with some 
 reserve, and cannot always be relied upon. As it is not, 
 however, contended that John N. Rhodes, except on 
 rare occasions, appeared to anything like the same 
 advantage in his water-colour work as he did in his 
 drawings in sepia, burnt sienna and pen and ink, or in 
 his later paintings in oil where his handiwork cannot 
 be mistaken for that of his father, the difficulty of 
 correct attribution need not unduly trouble the reader. 
 
 The characteristics of the early school of English 
 water-colour painters are well-known. The earliest 
 productions can only be described as tinted drawings — 
 studies in monochrome for the most part, in which 
 delineation of form and topographical accuracy were 
 the principal considerations, and a sense of colour 
 of merely secondary importance. In Rhodes' youth, 
 water-colour art was only just beginning to free itself 
 from those early conventions and restrictions which 
 gave way largely owing to the influence of Turner, 
 who at the dawn of the nineteenth century had left the 
 neutral greys of his earlier years behind him, and was 
 successfully striving to obtain a greater vigour of 
 
Plate XII — Sketch of Country Lad. 
 
A Yorkshire Painter. 
 
 47 
 
 technique, a truer sense of atmosphere, and a richer and 
 more varied colour effect. The older method of work 
 was still adopted by many artists in the provinces, and 
 several years elapsed before the modern conception of 
 the possibilities of water-colour, initiated by Girtin 
 and Turner, became at all general. 
 
 If we turn our attention to the early drawings 
 attributed to John Rhodes, or bearing his signature 
 executed under the influence of his father, we shall 
 find they are noticeable for their adherence to the old 
 formulas. They may be described as studies in mono- 
 chrome, with little insistence on the value of local 
 colour. Where colour is used, it is sobered down by 
 shadows and under-washings of neutral grey or Indian 
 ink, and a tone of lilac is adopted for the sky, and is 
 carried through the whole of the picture, thus securing 
 a delicate harmony of effect. To give emphasis to 
 objects in the foreground, a resort is often made to pen 
 touches in brown ink. After this manner is one of the 
 earliest drawings attributed to John Rhodes, which 
 represents the Old Shambles of the Middle Row, 
 Leeds, which was demolished in i 825-6, a signed work ; 
 but the signature is of doubtful authenticity. This 
 work, which is to be found inserted in the " History of 
 Leeds" already referred to, appears on the whole to be 
 too mature for a boy of sixteen, and may have been 
 worked on by both father and son. The softness of 
 execution which characterises the buildings and back- 
 ground is what we might expect from Joseph Rhodes, 
 while on the other hand some figures and objects in 
 the foreground, which are roughly and hastily put in, 
 may be the handiwork of John. 
 
 Of more probable authenticity is a sketch of the 
 Harewood Arms Inn, made at the time when the 
 
48 
 
 jfohfi ^A(\ Rhodes. 
 
 building was in process of demolition. This drawing 
 is outlined in black ink and washed in with colour. 
 It is stiffer and bolder in character than the Old 
 Shambles, and lacks the softness of the drawing first 
 described ; its colour is more positive and it looks tenta- 
 tive and immature. It is signed J. N. Rhodes, and in 
 this case the signature has a genuine look, and corres- 
 ponds in character with the autograph we are accustomed 
 to see on his pictures of later years. 
 
 The Leeds Old Parish Church, dedicated to St. 
 Peter, an ancient structure of the Perpendicular period, 
 having fallen into a state of decay, was demolished in 
 the year 1838, and chiefly owing to the exertions of 
 the well-known Vicar, Dr. Hook, a new church was 
 erected in its place from the designs of Robert Dennis 
 Chantrell. It was deemed desirable to have some 
 records of the old building, and a series of water-colour 
 sketches was made by the two Rhodes, which has 
 happily been preserved. There are six drawings — one 
 exterior and five interiors. The exterior view is not 
 signed, but is attributed (and probably correctly so) to 
 Joseph Rhodes. It is a water-colour, carefully drawn, 
 rather after the manner of a tinted print, with a highly 
 finished sky, and is worked upon with the pen in both 
 black and brown ink. The architecture is carefully 
 delineated, and the perspective is fairly accurate and 
 denotes painstaking study. 
 
 The five interiors represent — " The North Tran- 
 sept," "The Chancel (demolished 1838) from within 
 the Altar rails," " Interior view from Chancel Arch," 
 " Chancel during demolition, looking East," and 
 another view of the east end of the church. All of 
 these interior drawings are the work of the same artist, 
 and although none of them are signed, they may with 
 
A Yorkshire Painter. 
 
 49 
 
 some reservation be ascribed to John N. Rhodes. 
 They lack the high finish of the exterior view, are 
 stronger in colour, and are rather careless in drawing. 
 They also betray haste in execution, and the perspec- 
 tive leaves something to be desired. Pen and ink in 
 black and brown applied in a bold manner, is here again 
 made use of to impart crispness and to accentuate the 
 shadows. These sketches, notwithstanding their short- 
 comings, are especially interesting to us, for they convey 
 a good impression of the picturesque interior of the 
 ancient church, with the additions made to it by suc- 
 cessive generations of worshippers. The walls were 
 largely covered with memorial tablets and monuments ; 
 and hatchments displaying the arms of deceased worthies 
 were hung aloft in the company of military trophies, 
 banners, helmets, and pieces of armour. The floor was 
 paved with gravestones and inlaid with ancient brasses. 
 Cumbrous galleries overhung the western end and the 
 north and south aisles of the nave ; and to provide 
 support for the timbers, the clustered piers of the 
 arcades were cut about and mutilated. In the chancel, 
 the sacrarium was enclosed by a balustrade of polished 
 wood ; a screen of oak of Italian design with carved 
 enrichments formed a background to the altar, and 
 above it was placed a painting of the Last Supper, after 
 Leonardo da Vinci. 
 
 Altogether, the building must have been a most 
 interesting example of an unrestored parish church, and 
 from an antiquarian point of view there is cause for regret 
 that it should have had to give place to a more modern 
 structure. 
 
 Kirkstall Abbey, the old home of the Cistercian 
 brotherhood on the banks of the Aire, was the object of 
 repeated visits by both of the artists, and there are 
 
 H 
 
yohn <!A(\ Rhodes. 
 
 existing two series, if not more, of water-colour drawings 
 made of the ruined monastery, from various points of 
 view. Some of the sketches are much more highly 
 finished than the others, which in the absence of signa- 
 tures convey the impression that they may be the work 
 of Joseph Rhodes. Most of the remainder are slight 
 and tentative and are attributed to John. They are 
 noticeable for a delicate sense of colour, which is also 
 to be observed in two drawings of Harlaxton Hall, in 
 Mr. Richard Wilson's collection. 
 
 Old buildings and examples of architecture were 
 favourite subjects for the pencil and brush of both 
 father and son, and numerous were the records they 
 made of old country churches, and picturesque grey 
 stone halls and farmhouses scattered about the York- 
 shire countryside. 
 
 Of the more purely rustic scenes painted by John, 
 where figures are added, something must be said. A 
 nice little water-colour sketch in his later manner 
 which is free from the monochrome treatment of his 
 earlier work, is one of the exhibits of the Lockwood 
 bequest in the Leeds Art Gallery. It is called " Asleep 
 in the Hayfield," and represents a girl lying down at 
 the side of a haycock. It is sketched in pencil, the 
 colour is harmonious and cheerful without being unduly 
 bright, and the tone is mellow and sunny. Compared 
 with his oil sketches it may be regarded as rather stiff 
 in manner, but notwithstanding this criticism, it is a 
 pleasing bit of work. 
 
 In the same bequest are two other little companion 
 pictures, entitled respectively " A Yorkshire Cottage," 
 and " A Yorkshire Farmstead." In both cases the 
 colour is nice and delicate, and is free from greyness 
 of tone. In the former, the cottage is seen behind 
 
Plate XI 11. 
 CHILDREN GATHERING STICKS. 
 
A Yorkshire Painter. 
 
 5 1 
 
 a hedge upon which clothes are hung to dry, and 
 two children standing in the foreground add life 
 to the picture. In the latter, a haystack built upon 
 a platform to keep it dry, and propped up with 
 poles, is the principal object of the composition. 
 Figures are here again introduced in the foreground, 
 the group consisting of a man standing with a spade 
 in his hand, and a lad half seated and half reclining at 
 his side. 
 
 Of much higher quality is a fine water-colour 
 drawing, " Children gathering sticks," in Dr. Eagland's 
 collection, which was executed during his best period, 
 and is worthy to be placed by the side of his most 
 successful paintings. It is a signed work, size twelve 
 inches by sixteen, and is dated 1837.* Here he 
 adopts a customary formula, and introduces a group 
 of three children into a landscape setting. The central 
 figure, a boy with red hair, wearing a crimson waist- 
 coat thrown open at the neck, is kneeling down and 
 binding sticks into a bundle. At one side, in the rear, 
 another lad is standing with a stick or branch in his 
 hand; and on the other, leaning against some wood 
 palings, is a girl clad in a low-necked dress of the 
 period, with a saffron-coloured skirt. A fine old oak 
 with rich autumnal foliage and massive trunk, forms 
 an effective background to the figures. Behind the 
 boy in the rear, a grove of trees painted with sym- 
 pathetic feeling in tones of bluish grey, recedes into 
 the distance ; and on the right, the distant landscape 
 is rendered with true atmospheric effect; whilst 
 overhead the sky is blue, gradually obscured as 
 it reaches the horizon by light fleecy summer 
 clouds. 
 
 * See Plate XIII. 
 
5 2 
 
 yohn Rhodes. 
 
 This excellent drawing is an example of bold 
 vigorous handling, and a fine use of rich warm colour 
 in siennas, browns, and reds, such as we see in his 
 pictures in oil. It is interesting to note that he 
 produced this work the year after he painted the fine 
 spirited oil sketch in the Leeds Art Gallery, " Resting 
 by the Way." 
 
 Another water-colour of his best period, a drawing 
 thirteen inches by eleven, of a child and a dog, 
 the property of Mrs. Wedderburn of Moortown — a 
 study in golden yellows, has qualities much in common 
 with the picture just described, and rivals it in its 
 feeling for fine mellow colour. 
 
CHAPTER IV. 
 
 The Art of John N. Rhodes — continued. 
 
 The paintings in oil produced by Rhodes, including 
 sketches, small cabinet pictures, and larger works of 
 more importance are of sufficient interest to receive 
 special consideration. In working in this medium, his 
 earlier pictures in common with the water-colour draw- 
 ings of his youth, demonstrate in a noticeable manner 
 the influence of his father, and are distinguished by 
 careful drawing, pearly grey tones, and an absence of 
 strong positive colour. In course of time he threw off 
 the shackles of the convention in which he had been 
 schooled, and with the adoption of a more varied 
 palette he introduced rich bright colour into his com- 
 positions, and sometimes indulged in a riot of vivid 
 hues, laid on with a full brush with no sparing hand, 
 resulting in a fine fatty impasto. 
 
 Many of his smaller studies which bear evidence 
 of having been done in the open, and are mostly 
 painted on prepared millboards in size about twelve 
 inches by ten or ten inches by eight, are not carried 
 beyond the initial sketch stage, but notwithstanding this 
 limitation they are in many cases clever and life-like 
 impressions of rustic groups and bits of the country side. 
 Of this character, and noticeable for their vitality, vigour 
 
54 
 
 yohn Rhodes. 
 
 of execution, and richness of colour, are two little 
 sketches called respectively " Crossing the Stream " 
 and "Rustic Conversation," and in both of these small 
 landscapes, figures are introduced with good effect. 
 
 In addition to Dr. Abbott's sketch of a " Woman 
 wading a Brook," he is also the owner of another 
 spirited little study of a gleaner returning from the 
 harvest field, who carries some ears of corn held up in 
 a red apron, and bears on her back a bundle slung 
 round her neck ; her face is shaded by a large broad- 
 brimmed hat and a short dark blue skirt contrasts in 
 colour with the rest of her costume. 
 
 Rhodes did not always leave these small studies 
 unfinished, but from time to time whilst still retaining 
 the impromptu character and spirit of the sketch he 
 carried the work further and completed the little 
 pictures. Of this class is a little picture belonging to 
 Dr. Abbott called " Rustic Courtship," a capital study, 
 not without humour, of a country lad who is supposed 
 to be making love to a young woman who is seated 
 near him. His attempts at courtship seem to have 
 resolved themselves into mute satisfaction in the 
 presence of his beloved, whilst his fingers are occupied 
 in whittling a stick. She, on her part, to all appearance 
 is satisfied with the situation, and is not inviting dis- 
 appointment by expecting too much attention.* 
 Another representative example is the small canvas 
 " Resting by the Way," already mentioned, painted in 
 1836, bequeathed by Charles Turner Lockwood to the 
 Leeds Art Gallery. Remarkable for its fine colour, it 
 represents an overgrown country lad with ruddy cheeks, 
 dark brown eyes, and unkempt straggling hair crowned 
 by a broad brimmed hat. He wears a loose crimson 
 
 * See Plate XIV. 
 
Plate XIV. 
 RUSTIC COURTSHIP. 
 
A Yorkshire Painter. 
 
 55 
 
 jacket and it and the shirt below are thrown open, 
 exposing the neck and chest. The painting of the 
 jacket is of beautiful quality and colour. He is seated 
 on a stone at the foot of a steep sandy bank of a warm 
 yellow ochre tone, near a pool of water, and overhead 
 a sky of deep cerulean blue contrasts admirably with the 
 crimson and golden brown of the lad's clothing. The 
 attitude of the figure is easy, good, and natural, but its 
 scale is exaggerated, the body, limbs, and especially the 
 legs, being large in proportion to the head, making 
 the lad look unnaturally tall. The picture is an 
 example of vigorous, easy handling, and is executed 
 with dash and spirit. In richness of colour it is like a 
 Rubens or an Etty, and although not remarkable for a 
 delicate sense of atmosphere, the whole is well knit 
 together and is pervaded by a mellow sunny glow. 
 
 A similar picture is owned by the author, which is 
 painted from the same model, and may have been 
 Billy Wade, the country rustic, who lived in the neigh- 
 bourhood of Skipton, and whom Rhodes utilized for 
 many of his figure studies. This little picture varies 
 slightly from the work just described, but it exhibits 
 the same easy mastery of handling and fine rich quality 
 of colour.* 
 
 Pleasing in subject, and fine in colour, is a little 
 painting belonging to Mr. F. H. Barr, of Headingley — 
 its subject, a woodland glade in which two girls are 
 wandering, possibly on a nutting expedition. The 
 faces of both are shaded by straw hats of the shape 
 made familiar to us by Morland, and the principal 
 figure, carrying a large basket on her arm, is clad in a 
 crimson dress, open at the throat and looped up over 
 her dark blue skirt. Hung in the same room is a 
 
 * See Plate II. 
 
56 
 
 yohn Rhodes. 
 
 small example of the work of William Collins, R.A. — 
 a boy reclining on the ground with a dog at his side, 
 which at a first glance might readily be taken for a 
 painting by Rhodes. The subject, colour, and com- 
 position, are quite after the manner of the Leeds artist, 
 and the difference lies in the higher finish that Collins 
 has given to his work. To have the opportunity of 
 comparing the characteristics of the two painters' work, 
 and to note the points of resemblance is instructive, 
 because it is known that Rhodes, at one point of his 
 career, was largely influenced by William Collins, for 
 whose work he had a great admiration. 
 
 In proof of this similarity, it may be stated that a 
 connoisseur and collector of Rhodes' pictures, now 
 deceased, who was acquainted with the artist and 
 sometimes called upon him when he was at work in 
 his studio, being in London and visiting a well known 
 picture dealer, had his attention called to an attractive 
 rustic scene, said to be an example of the work of 
 William Collins. Something in the picture seemed 
 familiar to the Yorkshire patron of the fine arts. 
 Surely, the colour, technique and composition were 
 known to him ! The subject even, and its treatment, 
 had he not seen it before, or could he possibly be 
 mistaken ? Not so — a closer examination convinced 
 him that he was looking at a painting by John N. 
 Rhodes, and this conviction became a certainty when 
 the initials of the Leeds painter were discovered 
 in a corner of the foreground. Here, therefore, 
 was probably no isolated case in which the work 
 of this comparatively speaking unknown artist, so far as 
 the metropolis was concerned, was offered for sale 
 under the name of a more distinguished painter ; and 
 there is every reason to suppose that his pictures have 
 
A Yorkshire Painter. 
 
 57 
 
 in the past been sold, and may in the future meet 
 with purchasers, credited with names other than that 
 of the real author. 
 
 In addition to the small pictures in oil which 
 have engaged our attention, Rhodes painted on a 
 rather larger scale, and for works of the size of sixteen 
 inches by twelve, or of somewhat similar dimensions, 
 he often used wood panels. These, as has already been 
 said, he carried further in execution than his smaller 
 sketches, and completed more carefully. Supplement- 
 ing those which have been mentioned in the previous 
 chapter, the late Mr. Fenteman, in his sketch of the 
 artist's life which appeared in one of the local news- 
 papers several years ago, gives the titles or descriptions 
 of many others, all of them dealing with scenes of 
 country life. In the time which has since elapsed, 
 many of them have changed hands, and owing to the 
 deaths of former owners, collections have been 
 dispersed. 
 
 One small, but valuable and representative collec- 
 tion made by the late T. Eagland, an enthusiastic 
 admirer of the talent of his fellow townsman, and 
 bequeathed to his son, Dr. W. H. Eagland, of 
 Harrogate, still remains intact, and his pictures are 
 worthy of an appreciative paragraph. In addition to 
 the water-colour drawing already described — " Children 
 gathering Sticks " — he possesses three small cabinet 
 pictures of distinct merit, one of them marked by all 
 the qualities of Rhodes' best work, and characterized 
 by bold vigorous brushwork and fine colour. The 
 picture in question represents a young woman leading 
 two donkeys, one of them carrying panniers in which 
 two children are seated.* The principal figure is of 
 
 * See Plate XV. 
 
 I 
 
58 
 
 jfohn *!A(\ Rhodes. 
 
 the gipsy type, with dark brown eyes and the brilliant 
 port wine complexion which the artist was so fond 
 of giving to his models. Her attire consists of a 
 dark blue cloak, and a short red-brown skirt revealing 
 her bare feet and ankles, which are well modelled and 
 painted, and her head is protected by an old-fashioned 
 bonnet of ample size. In one of her hands she carries 
 a stick as she marches along with a determined 
 expression of countenance. The two children in the 
 panniers are very life-like. The nearer one with her 
 back turned has a blue shawl thrown over her head 
 and across her shoulders, and a crimson wrapper and 
 white cloth hang over the side of the basket-work. 
 The donkeys are capitally drawn and painted, and 
 additional animal life is introduced in the shape of a 
 spaniel, which is lapping water from a shallow stream 
 in the foreground. The canvas, which is thirteen and a 
 half inches by sixteen, is neither signed nor dated, but it 
 may safely be assumed to date from 1 837 to 1 840, and is 
 very similar in character to Mr. J. B. Fraser's picture, 
 "The Gipsy Mother," painted in 1840, which will 
 be noticed later. Of the former, Dr. Eagland 
 possesses a slight preliminary sketch in pen and brown 
 wash, and similar pen and wash sketches on old letter 
 paper of the subjects of two of his other pictures add 
 to the interest attaching to them. 
 
 The title and subject of both of these paintings is 
 " A Boy chasing a Butterfly," but their manner of 
 execution varies considerably. One is an example 
 of his earlier work in oils, when his technique still 
 shews the influence of his father, and whilst carefully 
 drawn and highly finished, it does not suffer from a 
 lack of spontaneity. The boy, who is in full chase, 
 wears low shoes and blue stockings, and, in his 
 
Plate XVI. — Boy and Butterfly. 
 
A Yorkshire Painter. 59 
 
 excitement and haste, one of his shoes has come off and 
 is left behind. The pose of the running figure 
 could not be improved upon, and the expression of 
 eager anticipation of capture on the boy's face is 
 excellently portrayed.* 
 
 The other picture, another rendering of a similar 
 subject, exhibits the artist in his later, bolder, and 
 more easy manner. Here, again, the action of the 
 running figure is good, and the lad's clothing displays 
 the painter's favourite colours of crimson, blue, and 
 ruddy browns, in waistcoat, tie, and breeches. 
 
 Rhodes did not often make use of a large canvas, 
 and his more important pictures of fair sized dimensions 
 are limited in number. Of these, a painting of 
 the Cowthorpe Oak, near Wetherby,-j- is a representa- 
 tive example. It is signed in red, J. N. Rhodes, 
 Pinxt., 1 840, and the canvas measures twenty-five inches 
 by thirty. The old oak is depicted with its gnarled and 
 hollow trunk, its spreading branches supported on 
 props, some still retaining sap and life and others dead 
 and decaying, seen against a dark thundery sky. It is 
 the autumnal season of the year, and the foliage is 
 changing colour from green to low-toned russet. To 
 impart additional interest and give an idea of scale, a 
 man is introduced in the foreground, whose back is 
 turned to the spectator. Below the lower branches of 
 the tree, on the one side, some cows are to be seen 
 grazing in the distance, and on the other is a stretch 
 of undulating country. As it approaches the horizon 
 the sky is free from signs of storm, and is luminous in 
 quality, with clouds tinged with a rosy evening glow. 
 Distinct traces of the influence of Crome and 
 Constable are to be seen in this picture, which is a 
 
 * See Plate XVI. f See P1 *te XVII. 
 
6o 
 
 jfo/in JA(\ Rhodes. 
 
 fine example of bold vigorous work. Another work 
 of similar size to the foregoing, entitled " The Gipsy 
 Mother," was painted in the same year.* The first 
 record of its exhibition in Leeds was in 1843, wnen it 
 was hung at the Music Hall in a collection gathered 
 together to further the objects of the Mechanics' 
 Institution and Literary Society, and its first owner 
 was Mr. M. Cawood, a local amateur. It has been 
 shown several times since, and has changed hands 
 more than once, and is now the property of Mr. 
 James Barlow Fraser, of Horsforth. This picture, 
 which is painted with freedom and vigour and is 
 notable for richness of colour and mellowness of tone, 
 is considered by experts to be one of Rhodes' 
 masterpieces. 
 
 The subject represents a gipsy woman seated on 
 a mossy stone, nursing a child. A handkerchief thrown 
 over her head partially conceals her raven black hair, 
 her eyes are dark and lustrous, and her cheeks are 
 flushed with the glow of health ; her skirt is of bluish 
 green cloth, and a crimson shawl of opulent colour is 
 wrapped around her shoulders. By her knees, with 
 her back turned, a child is standing with a stick in her 
 hand, and not far away another is sleeping, cradled 
 amidst the brushwood and bracken, with a dog lying 
 down in the foreground. A donkey is eating herbage 
 in the middle distance ; beyond is the silvery glimmer 
 of water, and further still, the distant landscape is 
 faithfully rendered with true atmospheric effect. 
 Behind the stone on which the woman is seated, 
 another donkey and its foal are grouped, relieved by a 
 background of trees which crown a knoll hard by, and 
 broad-leaved plants of the dock variety are introduced 
 
 * See Plate XVIII. 
 
A Yorkshire Painter. 
 
 61 
 
 in the foreground with good effect. The sky 
 is luminous and is excellently painted. Blue overhead, 
 it is gradually obscured by a filmy pinkish grey haze 
 or cloud, merging into a pale amber glow, which 
 extends to the horizon. The composition of the 
 picture is good ; the seated figure is happily placed, 
 and the silhouette of the head outlined against the sky 
 is effective. Praiseworthy also is the flesh painting. 
 The gipsy's hands are well modelled and are painted 
 in slight shadow with reflected lights, and the pearly 
 shadows which veil her neck and bosom are the work 
 of no novice. In colour, the picture leaves nothing to 
 be desired. The greens are of fine quality without 
 a suspicion of crudity, and are juicy and mellow 
 in effect, looking as if they might afterwards have 
 been toned down with a glaze of raw sienna. Taken 
 altogether, this characteristic example of the painter's 
 works fully merits the praise which has been awarded 
 to it. 
 
 " Noon " is the title of a picture belonging to 
 Mr. S. Ingham, of similar size to the foregoing, but 
 in this case it is an upright instead of an oblong, and 
 was painted two years earlier than " The Gipsy 
 Mother." It is a warm summer day. Two hearty 
 looking countrymen are depicted seated under a 
 spreading beech tree, and resting after their midday 
 meal. One of them, in full view, with a discarded 
 dinner basket at his side and a little barrel of " home 
 brewed " within easy reach, is holding up a scrap of 
 meat at which a dog is jumping. The other is leaning 
 against a fence with his back turned, and appears to be 
 half asleep ; his head, covered with a low crowned 
 dark felt hat is bent forward, and across his broad 
 shoulders luminous shadows are playing, as the breeze 
 
62 
 
 jfohn U^. Rhodes. 
 
 rustles the leaves of the overhanging branches. In the 
 clothing of the two men, Rhodes has made use of the 
 three primaries — red, blue, and yellow, a device he 
 often repeated with good effect, and these colours are 
 here seen in knowing contrast in neckerchief, waist- 
 coat, and trousers. The highest note of colour is 
 usually centred in the waistcoat, which in the days of 
 which we are speaking, as if to outrival the gay 
 plumage of birds, was often faced with brilliantly dyed 
 plush or velveteen, a bygone fashion which lingers on 
 in some country districts, and is still occasionally to be 
 met with. Returning to the picture, the greensward 
 of the foreground is diversified by broad-leaved plants, 
 and a shallow brook pursues its leisurely course below 
 the rising ground on which the figures are seated. 
 The sky is a summer blue, not too strong in colour, 
 the greens of the foliage are toned into mellow 
 harmony by the golden rays of the sun, and the lights 
 and shadows are admirably rendered. The painting is 
 in excellent condition, and if it was not for the tone 
 which time alone can give, it might have left the 
 painter's easel but yesterday. 
 
 Of equal interest is " Dinner Time," * another 
 picture belonging to the same owner, which, although 
 neither signed nor dated, is a further example of the 
 painter's best period. The canvas is upright. The 
 scene presented to us is a common occurrence in 
 everyday life — hunger must be appeased ! A boy is 
 seated at the roadside with a basin of soup in his lap, 
 holding up a spoon to his mouth, with a dog, as 
 usual, in attendance. Standing in close proximity, 
 and watching the boy at his meal with evident 
 interest, is a sturdy child whose age may be four or 
 
 * See Plate XIX. 
 
A Yorkshire Painter. 6 3 
 
 five years. Over a blue skirt he wears a man's 
 waistcoat of voluminous size with red facings, and 
 twisted round his neck is a muffler or handkerchief 
 of the same bright colour. Blue, yellow, and russet- 
 brown appear in the clothing of the older boy ; here 
 again we meet with the painter's use of the three 
 primaries in the dresses of the two children. Behind 
 the wayside group a cottage wall appears, which is 
 overhung by branches, and the dark green foliage of 
 the trees which rise above the wooden palings skirting 
 the road, help to form a somewhat sombre background. 
 The lighting of the picture is rather artificial, but the 
 tone is excellent, and the painting broad and 
 masterly. 
 
 Another picture of Rhodes' best period, composed 
 of the simple elements which satisfied him, and which 
 he was so fond of repeating, is to be seen at Elmet 
 Hall, Roundhay, and belongs to Mrs. Hawthorn 
 Kitson. The canvas, an upright, twenty-five inches by 
 twenty-one and a half, is signed and dated 1838. The 
 subject — a familiar one, is a country lad with his dog, in 
 a landscape setting. With head uncovered and weather- 
 beaten felt hat by his side, he is represented leaning 
 against a low rocky bank at the turn of a winding 
 road, which disappears in the distance behind a clump 
 of wind-swept trees. The face of the rustic is more 
 carefully modelled and finished than usual ; his hair 
 is brown, his cheeks bright in colour, and his eyes 
 liquid and expressive ; the pose of the figure is easy 
 and natural. His clothes are a study in red and 
 yellow browns, relieved by a touch of blue in his 
 necktie. The general colouring of the foreground is 
 of the tawny yellow hue which Rhodes so often 
 affected, and this applies to the whole of the landscape. 
 
6 4 
 
 yohn JA(\ Rhodes. 
 
 The sky is a pale translucent blue, and is not so 
 strongly painted as in some of the artist's pictures. 
 
 Of the four or five paintings which Mr. Fairfax 
 Rhodes of Brockhampton Park still retains from the 
 collection made by his father, the most important 
 picture, which the latter considered was the best 
 example of the painter's work, is entitled " Coming 
 from the Hayfield." For many years it occupied a 
 prominent position in Mr. John Rhodes' billiard room 
 at his residence at Potternewton, near Leeds, and a short 
 time before his death was seen by the writer and one or 
 two of his friends, but his recollection of the picture 
 is not sufficiently vivid to attempt a description which 
 would do adequate justice to the merits of the work. 
 
 Careful enquiry has proved unsuccessful in tracing 
 the present owners of three of Rhodes' later works, 
 which he exhibited in London before returning to 
 Leeds — entitled respectively " Sit up, Sirrah ! " " Which 
 is the Tallest," and " Give it a bit of Bread." The 
 first was at one time the property of a Mr. Heywood, 
 of Leeds, and was shewn at the Music Hall, in 1843, 
 where it was hung on the same walls as the picture 
 " Coming from the Hayfield," above referred to, 
 which was lent at the time by Mr. John Rhodes. 
 
 In the chapter dealing with the biography of John 
 N. Rhodes, a brief reference was made to the last 
 picture which he painted, and which is now in the 
 possession of Dr. Eagland, of Harrogate. It will be 
 remembered that Joseph Rhodes in writing concerning 
 it, spoke very highly of its merits. The picture — a 
 moorland pasture with figures and cattle — is an 
 important work, very carefully painted, with a highly 
 finished sky, and a foreground of mossy greensward 
 in place of his customary warm sienna and ochre 
 
Plate XIX— Dinner Time. 
 
A Yorkshire Painter. 6 5 
 
 tones. The cows which are introduced to the left 
 of the picture, one a russet and white, and the other 
 black and white in colour, are well grouped, and the 
 drawing and painting of the first mentioned are 
 excellent. To the right, standing erect, with her 
 back turned to the spectator, and with one arm out- 
 stretched, pointing to the cattle, is a sturdy looking 
 woman. A yellow shawl flung round her shoulders 
 only partially covers her neck, the flesh tones of which 
 contrast well with the tresses of her dark hair, which 
 hang down on either side. She wears a skirt of 
 purple brown, with an old-fashioned pocket or bag 
 slung from her waist, and blue stockings and low shoes 
 complete her attire. Slightly in the rear, a man 
 sits, with a fair-haired child on his knee. He is 
 dressed in country costume with rich tan-coloured 
 trousers and leggings, and wears a blue jacket. A dog 
 lying down completes the group. 
 
 Rhodes' flesh painting, as a rule, is rather hot and 
 red in colour, and in the faces of his figures he was 
 sometimes too apt to overstate the ruddy hue of health ; 
 but this case is one of the exceptions, and the colour 
 is quiet and unobtrusive. The picture is pearly grey 
 in tone, and has a nice feeling for atmosphere. In 
 technique he has returned in some respects to his 
 earlier manner, and the brushwork is not so sure, easy, 
 and vigorous, as in his best work produced from 1835 
 to 1840. Notwithstanding these slight drawbacks, 
 it is a painting of considerable merit, showing how 
 the artist was able to rise above his bodily ailments 
 and weakness, and to produce in his last work a 
 picture, as his father expresses it, noticeable for " depth 
 of tone, harmony of colour, truth of character, and 
 poetick feeling." 
 
 J 
 
66 
 
 yohn $Q Rhodes. 
 
 With this description we must conclude the record 
 of the life and works of John N. Rhodes. 
 
 For many years after his death in 1842, his draw- 
 ings and paintings were treasured by connoisseurs and 
 collectors in Yorkshire, and more especially so in the 
 town where he spent the greater part of his life, but 
 for some time past they have suffered from a partial 
 eclipse, and have not met with so cordial an apprecia- 
 tion as they deserve. Compared with modern work, 
 by some they may be considered old-fashioned, whilst 
 on the other hand, they are hardly ancient enough to 
 be looked upon in quite the same spirit, with which 
 pictures of the old school of English landscape are 
 regarded. 
 
 It may be, that a further period of time must 
 elapse before they are treasured at their proper value, 
 and it is with the hope of hastening the day of a true 
 estimate of the merit of the productions of John N. 
 Rhodes, that this sketch of his life and work has been 
 written. 
 
APPENDIX. 
 
 Letter from Benjamin West, President of the Royal 
 Academy, to the President and Members of 
 the Northern Society for the Encourage- 
 ment of the Fine Arts. 
 
 To 
 
 THOMAS WALKER, Eso^., President, 
 
 And the Rest of the Members of the Com- 
 mittee of the Northern Society for the 
 Encouragement of the Fine Arts. 
 
 Gentlemen, 
 
 I have been honoured with your letter, explanatory 
 of the designs of your Society for encouraging fine 
 arts at Leeds ; and it is gratifying to observe, that, by 
 forming the plan which you have thought fit to com- 
 municate to me, you have opened the way to their 
 cultivation in the North of England. Your zeal in 
 cherishing the fine arts — the protection you offer 
 them — are highly honourable to you, and I entertain 
 no doubt, that, from the influence of your proceedings, 
 the warmest desire of affording them the like protec- 
 tion will be diffused throughout other cities and other 
 counties. London and Bath, already, have each their 
 institution for augmenting and extending the spirit of 
 patronage among those classes in which alone it can 
 
68 
 
 jfohn Rhodes. 
 
 be effectually beneficial; and the accession of your 
 present undertaking reasonably induces the hope I have 
 mentioned, that your joint examples may be followed 
 by every city in the United Kingdoms. 
 
 Had such a spirit been sooner awakened, had 
 patronage in the higher departments of art been more 
 early extended to ingenious youths — to many of 
 distinguished talents, whose ardour in study, and whose 
 ability I have witnessed, passing before me for nearly 
 half a century, — England would by this time have 
 possessed men as eminent in historical painting as she 
 now boasts in portraits, in the useful arts, in science, 
 and philosophy ; in all which her attainments so con- 
 spicuously exalt her above other nations. 
 
 Earnest even as you are, Gentlemen, in the prosecu- 
 tion of your laudable design, you have not perhaps 
 contemplated to its full extent, the magnitude of those 
 benefits to which your exertions lead. You are about 
 to give to the rising generation, to the children of your 
 and England's bosom, an opportunity of beholding, 
 from their infancy, the works of living genius in their 
 native country ; the sight of which becoming habitually 
 pleasing, cannot fail to inspire them with a love for 
 these works, equal in force to the impressions of 
 pleasure derived from them to their tender minds ; 
 for early habits bring on early affections, which remain 
 with us through life. 
 
 Those early habits are one of the causes why whole 
 communities, both in Greece and Italy, became 
 emulous to cherish the fine arts among them ; for 
 their porticos, their temples, their churches, palaces, 
 and dwellings, were the rich repositories of the 
 enchanting powers of the arts, which, in those public 
 resorts, were perpetually before the eyes of the youths 
 
A Yorkshire Painter. 
 
 69 
 
 of all ranks. It is in no slight degree to be attributed 
 to the want in this country of rooms and galleries, 
 filled with the productions of its own living and native 
 genius, that the love for the arts, and their consequent 
 growth, has been retarded among us ; and it is no less 
 owing to such galleries having been filled and adorned 
 with productions of pencils cherished in other nations, 
 that the now senior portion of men of taste in the 
 opulent classes of England, have imbibed from their 
 infancy a predilection for the works of foreign 
 schools. 
 
 Those works were the only productions of the 
 pencil, of which, during their childhood, they per- 
 ceived the possession to be coveted. The names of 
 Michael Angelo, RafFaelle, Correggio, and Titian, are 
 become as familiar to them as those of their most intimate 
 acquaintances ; and where these names are annexed to 
 pictures, both the beholder and the proprietor fancy 
 that, in the presence of such works of superior art, 
 they feel in their very atmosphere an undefined some- 
 thing, approaching to a divine exuberance of spirit, 
 when perhaps, alas ! in fact, neither Michael Angelo, 
 RafFaelle, Correggio, nor Titian, ever beheld those 
 idolized works, nor are they even copies from the 
 pencil of those justly admired painters. 
 
 No man, I assert, can place a higher value on the 
 real works of the great masters of all schools, or hold 
 their names in higher respect, than myself, nor is 
 there anyone who would more earnestly desire to see 
 them treasured in the cabinets of our gentlemen and 
 nobles ; but when spurious productions are imposed on 
 the liberal purchaser, to the exclusion and contempt 
 of real living merit, one is at a loss which to condemn 
 the most, the knavery or the folly. 
 
7° 
 
 yohn Rhodes. 
 
 Had the communities of Greece, Italy, and 
 Flanders, neglected to cherish the early progress of 
 living talents, we should never have seen those splendid 
 works which have immortalized at once the countries 
 in which they were executed, the people who 
 patronized, and the artists who produced them ; and 
 I hope the period is not far distant, when a full 
 knowledge of the effective aid which delineation 
 gives to the other parts of education, will be the 
 means of adding a drawing master to every grammar 
 school in these kingdoms, that the youths who are 
 educated in our schools may possess the advantage 
 of the delineating powers, joined to their grammar 
 education. This will not only give to such as may 
 embrace the mechanic arts a superior skill and taste 
 in all they do, but will render what they do more 
 grateful to their employers. 
 
 The influence of taste, thus early ingrafted, and 
 extending itself to all branches of manufactory, will 
 meet the higher and more wealthy orders, whose 
 accomplished minds will feel and relish the increase of 
 elegance diffused over their domestic retirements. 
 For never have the arts taken, nor ever will they take 
 root in any country, until the people in that country 
 generally feel and understand their constitutional 
 excellence, and the refinement of domestic comforts 
 which they spread around them. Had the patronage 
 of those countries, where they have been principally 
 cherished, rested solely with the leaders and con- 
 querors, or with popes and princes ; had it not been 
 accompanied by that which flowed from numerous 
 individuals of rank and wealth, neither the porticos, 
 the temples, the churches, nor the palaces and galleries 
 of those countries, would ever have been so superbly 
 
A Yorkshire Painter, 
 
 filled as they were; nor could those collections have 
 been made from thence, which have filled so many 
 galleries and cabinets elsewhere. The patronage then 
 so generally dispensed was directed to the protection 
 of living genius ; and they, by whom it was so 
 dispensed, sought to form no other collections than 
 the works of native and living masters. This is the 
 true basis of national eminence in the arts. On any 
 other ground there can be no such thing as patronage ; 
 nothing else is worthy of that name. The encourage- 
 ment, therefore, extended to the genius of a single 
 living artist, though it may produce but one original 
 work, adds more to the celebrity of a people, and is a 
 higher proof of patriotic ardour, and a generous love 
 for the progress of art, than all the collections that 
 were ever made from the productions of other 
 countries, and all the expenditures that were ever 
 bestowed in making them. 
 
 I know of no people since the Greeks, who have 
 indicated a higher promise to equal them in the 
 refinement of the arts than the British nation ; but 
 this can only take place when the whole mass of the 
 people shall be awake to the usefulness of the arts, 
 and the splendour they confer. I have no doubt that 
 every province of the United Kingdoms would then 
 afford the means of cherishing them by exhibition and 
 patronage, with the same pride that the Greeks filled 
 their temples, or the Italians their churches, with 
 works whose fame is now fixed for ever. 
 
 These are my sentiments, the result of observation 
 founded on the unerring truth of experience ; and I 
 hold it not improper to have declared them to you 
 on the present occasion, as your Society is about to 
 take ground for patronage, of which it is so much to 
 
7 2 
 
 yohn ^\(\ Rhodes. 
 
 be wished that the example may be diffused through- 
 out his Majesty's dominions ; while it must also be 
 observed, that the patronage held forth by many great 
 and noble characters, needs no spur, and the means 
 projected by other spirited individuals in opulent 
 stations, for extending and perpetuating the works of 
 British masters, fall short in no degree of the most 
 fervid energies of private examples, of which any 
 country has been able to boast. 
 
 I make no doubt but that it will be your study to 
 keep alive such energies and examples of patronage, 
 when your Society shall open its eyes to the public ; 
 for patronage is to professional merit what the ocean 
 is to the earth — the great source from whence it must 
 ever be refreshed, and without whose renovating 
 powers, conveyed through innumerable channels, 
 everything must become dry, and all productions cease 
 to exist. 
 
 With these sentiments, and with every good wish 
 for the prosperity of your Society, and the extension 
 of the Fine Arts, 
 
 I have the honour, etc., 
 
 B. WEST. 
 
INDEX. 
 
 The Titles of Works are Printed in Italic Type. 
 
 Abbott, Dr. T. B., 34, 37, 54. 
 Aberford, 34, 37. 
 *Ackermann, Messrs., 33. 
 Aire, River, 49. 
 
 " Airedale and other Poems," by 
 
 John Nicholson, 30. 
 All Hallow E'en, painting by 
 
 Ibbotson, 13. 
 Alverthorpe, 30. 
 Armley, 44. 
 
 Armley House, Leeds, 10. 
 
 Art Gallery, Leeds, 6, 8, 13, 20, 
 
 27, 32, 40, 50, 52, 54. 
 Artists' Benevolent Fund, 13. 
 Asleep in the Hay field, by John N. 
 
 Rhodes, 50. 
 
 Banks, George, 22. 
 Barden, 31. 
 Barr, F. H., 55. 
 Bath, 67. 
 
 Beckett, Blaydes & Co., Bankers, 
 8, 10. 
 
 Beckett, Christopher, 8. 
 Beckett, Ernest, W., M.P., 8. 
 Beckett, Sir John, 3, 8. 
 Beckett, William, 3, 8. 
 
 * Erratum 
 
 Billy Wade, 31, 55. 
 
 Bischoff, John, 7, 30. 
 
 Bischoff, Thomas, 7, 30. 
 
 Blaydes, family, 11. 
 
 Blind Man, The, by John N. 
 
 Rhodes, 42. 
 Bolton, 31. 
 
 Bonington, Richard Parkes, 12. 
 Bower, Joshua, 38. 
 Boy asleep under a Haystack, by 
 John N. Rhodes, 28. 
 
 Boy chasing a Butterfly, by John 
 
 N. Rhodes, 58. 
 Boy with Sheep, by John N. 
 
 Rhodes, 31. 
 Bradford, 12. 
 
 Bramham Moor Hunt, 21. 
 Bramham Park, 2. 
 British Institution, 33. 
 Brockhampton Park, 63. 
 Burlington House, 10. 
 Burns, Robert, 12, 13, 29. 
 Burras, Thomas, 27. 
 
 Cawood, M., 60. 
 Chalon, Alfred E., 11. 
 
 On page 33 instead of Ackerman, read Ackermann. 
 
 73 
 
 K. 
 
Index. 
 
 Chantrell, Richard Dennis, 14, 
 48. 
 
 Chantrey, Sir Francis, 10. 
 Child, and Dog, by John N. 
 Rhodes, 52. 
 
 Children catching Butterflies, by 
 John N. Rhodes, 28. 
 
 Children gathering Sticks, by John 
 N. Rhodes, 51, 57. 
 
 Churwell, 13, 26. 
 
 Cistercians, 49. 
 
 Clapham, Rev. Charles, 11. 
 
 Claude, 17. 
 
 Collins, William, 3, 11, 56. 
 
 Coming from the Hayfield, by 
 
 John N. Rhodes, 64. 
 Constable, 3, 5, 9. 
 Cope, Charles, 12. 
 Cope, C. W., 12. 
 Correggio, 69. 
 
 Country Lad with Dog, by John 
 
 N. Rhodes, 63. 
 Cowthorfe Oak, The, by John 
 
 N. Rhodes, 59. 
 Crome, 59. 
 
 Cromek, Thomas Hartley, 18, 25. 
 
 Crossing the Stream, by John N. 
 Rhodes, 54. 
 
 Da Vinci, Leonardo, 49. 
 
 Dawe, George, 22. 
 
 Day and Haghe, 38. 
 
 Death of General Wolfe, by West, 5. 
 
 Deer's Rendezvous, The, by John 
 
 N. Rhodes, 31, 40. 
 Denison, William Beckett, 8. 
 
 Dinner Time, by John N. Rhodes, 
 28, 62. 
 
 Dutch School of Painting, 2, 3, 21. 
 
 Eagland, Thomas, 34, 35, 57. 
 Eagland, Dr. W. H., 34, 51, 57, 
 
 58, 64. 
 Elmet Hall, 63. 
 England, 9, 67, 68, 69. 
 Etty, 23, 55. 
 
 Farnley Hall, 2, 9, 40. 
 Fawkes, Family of, 9. 
 Fawkes, Francis Hawkesworth, 9. 
 Fawkes, Walter, 9, 40. 
 Fenteman, J., 45, 57. 
 Flanders, 70. 
 Flaxman, John, 11. 
 Fraser, J. B., 58, 60. 
 Frederick, 18, 25. 
 Fuseli, 17. 
 
 George III., 4, 25. 
 
 Girl at a Cottage Door, by John 
 
 N. Rhodes, 42. 
 Girl and Donkey, by John N. 
 
 Rhodes, 43. 
 Girl nursing a Baby, by John N. 
 
 Rhodes, 44, 45. 
 Gipsy Mother, The, by John N. 
 
 Rhodes, 58, 60, 61. 
 Give it a Bit of Bread, by John N. 
 
 Rhodes, 33, 64. 
 Girtin, 24, 47. 
 
 Gleaner, The, by John N. Rhodes, 
 37- 
 
 Gott, Benjamin, 10. 
 Gott, Family of, 10. 
 Gott, John, 10. 
 Gott, William, 10, 22. 
 Greece, 5, 68, 70. 
 Green, 2. 
 
Index. 
 
 Haghe, L., 38. 
 Hailstone, Edward, F.S.A., 7. 
 Harewood Arms Inn, Leeds, 47. 
 Harewood, Earl of, 30. 
 Harewood House, 2. 
 Harlaxton Hall, by John N. 
 
 Rhodes, 50. 
 Harrogate, 57, 64. 
 Hartley, 2. 
 
 Hartley Hill, Leeds, 7. 
 Headingley, 44, 55. 
 Headingley Hall, 41. 
 Hey, William, 11. 
 Heywood, Mr., 64. 
 History of Leeds, 43, 47. 
 Hobbema, 12. 
 Hoi beck, II. 
 Holbein, 2. 
 Hold, John, 29. 
 Holloway, 33. 
 Hoppner, 2. 
 Hook, Dr., 48. 
 
 Horse and Donkey, by John N. 
 
 Rhodes, 33. 
 Hunslet, 1. 
 
 Ibbotson, Julius Caesar, 13, 26. 
 Ikin, Thomas, 11. 
 Ilkley, 31, 32. 
 
 Infirmary, New, Leeds, 8, 13, 38. 
 
 Ingham, Samuel, 41, 44, 61. 
 
 Ingram, Family of, 2. 
 
 Italy, 5, 18, 68, 70. 
 
 Italian School of Painting, 2, 3. 
 
 Jackson, 2. 
 Jan Steen, 14. 
 
 Kidson, J., 8. 
 
 Kirkstall Abbey, 14, 20, 36, 40, 49. 
 
 Kirklees Park, 44. 
 
 Kitson, Mrs. Hawthorn, 63. 
 
 landscape, by John N. Rhodes, 
 43- 
 
 Landscape with Cattle, by John 
 
 N. Rhodes, 31. 
 Landseer, Sir Edwin, 12. 
 Lawrence, Sir Thomas, 10, 11, 
 
 14, 18. 
 Leach, J. H., 4. 
 
 Leeds, 1, 2, 4, 6, 8, 10, 11, 12, 13, 
 14, 16, 17, 18, 19, 21, 26, 27, 
 
 29, 30, 34. 35. 38, 43. 44. 47. 
 60, 64, 67. 
 
 Leeds — 
 Armley House, 10. 
 Art Gallery, 6, 8, 13, 20, 27, 32, 
 40, 50, 52, 54. 
 
 Harewood Arms Inn, 47. 
 Mechanics' Institution, 9, 60. 
 Music Hall, 9, 11, 20, 29, 60, 64. 
 New Infirmary, 8, 13, 38. 
 North Street, 7. 
 Old Shambles, 47, 48. 
 Parish Church, 14. 
 Old Parish Church : 
 
 The North Transept, 48. 
 
 The Chancel from within the 
 Altar Rails, 48. 
 
 Interior View from Chancel 
 Arch, 48. 
 
 Chancel during demolition, 
 looking east, 48. 
 
 East end of Church, 48. 
 Philosophical Hall, 10. 
 
Index. 
 
 Leeds — {continued) . 
 Pottery, i. 
 
 Reference Library, 44. 
 
 St. Ann's Cathedral, 10. 
 
 Town Hall, 25. 
 Leeds Mercury, 13. 
 Leeds, History of, by Whitaker, 
 
 43, 47- 
 Lely, Sir Peter, 2. 
 Leslie, 3. 
 
 Liber Studiorum, by Turner, 38. 
 Lockwood, Charles Turner, 20, 27, 
 50, 54- 
 
 Lockwood, Jonathan, 20. 
 Loidis and Elmete, by Whitaker, 
 43- 
 
 London, 3, 14, 16, 17, 33, 56, 
 64, 67. 
 
 London, Burlington House, 10. 
 
 Macaulay, Lord, 38. 
 Marshall, Family of, 11. 
 Marshall, James Garth, 11. 
 Marshall, John, 11. 
 Marshall, John, Jun., 11. 
 Masham, 13, 26. 
 Massey, 19. 
 Methley, 8. 
 Methley Hall, 2. 
 Mexborough, Earl of, 2. 
 Michael Angelo, 69. 
 Middleton, Gilbert, 37. 
 Moorland Pasture with Figures and 
 Cattle, by John N. Rhodes, 64. 
 Moortown, 52. 
 
 More, Sir Thomas, Portrait of, 
 attributed to Holbein, 2. 
 
 Morland, George, 13, 22, 24, 26, 
 30, 37. 38, 44, 55- 
 
 Mulready, 3. 
 
 Museum, South Kensington, 3, 19. 
 Nasmyth, 12. 
 
 Near Ilkley, by John N. Rhodes, 
 32. 
 
 Nettleship, 26. 
 
 Nicholson, John, " The Airedale 
 Poet," 29. 
 
 Noon, by John N. Rhodes, 61. 
 
 North Street, Leeds, 7. 
 
 Northern Society, The, 1, 4, 5, 6, 
 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 13, 14, 18, 19, 
 20, 36, 40, 67, 71, 72. 
 
 Nostell Priory, 2. 
 
 Nottingham, 12. 
 
 Old Masters, 3, 5, 10, 14, 17. 
 Old Parish Church, Leeds, 48. 
 Old Shambles, Leeds, 47, 48. 
 Old Skyrack Oak, Headingley, by 
 
 John N. Rhodes, 28. 
 Opie, J., 11. 
 
 Orphan Boy and Girl begging, by 
 
 John N. Rhodes, 28. 
 Owen, W., 11. 
 
 Parish Church, Leeds, 14. 
 Payne, Richard Ecroyd, 11. 
 Philosophical Hall, Leeds, 10. 
 Pickering, J. R., 33. 
 Poacher, The, poem by John 
 
 Nicholson, 30. 
 Poetical Landscape with Figures, 
 
 by West, 4. 
 Pollington, Viscount, 3, 8. 
 Portrait of the Victory, by Turner, 
 
 9- 
 
 Potternewton, 64. 
 Poussin, 17. 
 
 76 
 
Index. 
 
 Queen Anne, Portrait of, 2. 
 
 Raeburn, Henry, ri. 
 Raffaelle, 69. 
 
 Rainbow, The, by John N. 
 
 Rhodes, 41. 
 Rembrandt, 44. 
 
 Resting by the Way, by John N. 
 Rhodes, 52, 54. 
 
 Reynolds, Sir Joshua, 2, 5. 
 
 Rhodes, Fairfax, 13, 29, 64. 
 
 Rhodes, John, 29, 32, 64. 
 
 Rhodes, John N., 10, 14, 16, 19, 
 20, 21, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 29, 
 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 
 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 
 46, 47, 48, 49, 50, 53, 54, 55, 
 56. 57. 58, 59> 6o, 62, 63, 64, 
 65, 66. 
 
 Rhodes, Joseph, 8, 13, 14, 16, 19, 
 20, 23, 26, 27, 29, 33, 34, 35, 
 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 5o» 64. 
 
 Ribblesdale, Lord, 30. 
 
 Robin Hood's Grave, 44. 
 
 Robinson, William, 18, 25. 
 
 Robert Burns seated under a Tree, 
 by John N. Rhodes, 28, 31. 
 
 Rodin, 8. 
 
 Rombalds Moor, 31, 32. 
 Roundhay, 63. 
 
 Royal Academy, 4, 11, 13, 15, 17. 
 Rubens, 14. 
 
 Salvin, Anthony, 14. 
 San Jusse, M., 17. 
 Savile, Family of, 2. 
 School of Art, Leeds, 6, 8. 
 Schwanfelder, Charles H., 12, 25. 
 Scotch Lad in Moorland Scene, by 
 John N. Rhodes, 41. 
 
 Sheep in a Landscape, by John N. 
 
 Rhodes, 28, 31. 
 Sheepshanks, Family of, 3. 
 Sheepshanks, John, 3, 22. 
 Siege of Bradford, The, drama by 
 
 John Nicholson, 30. 
 
 Sit up, Sirrah, by John N. Rhodes, 
 
 33, 64. 
 Skipton, 31, 32. 
 Smirke, R., 11. 
 Smith, Henry, 18. 
 South Kensington Museum, 3, 19. 
 Spanish School of Painting, 2. 
 Sportsman, The, by John N. 
 
 Rhodes, 28. 
 Stanfield, Clarkson, 3. 
 Steen, Jan, 14. 
 St. Leonards, Lord, 31. 
 Stephenson, Mr., 30. 
 Stothard, Thomas, 11. 
 Study of a Boy, by John N. 
 
 Rhodes, 44. 
 Study of Sheep, by John N. 
 
 Rhodes, 42. 
 
 Tam 0' Shanter, painting by Ibbot- 
 
 son, 13. 
 Temple Newsam, 2. 
 Titian, 69. 
 
 Tobias bringing the Fish to his 
 
 Father, by West, 4. 
 Topham, 25. 
 Town Hall, Leeds, 25. 
 Turned Out, byjohn N. Rhodes,38. 
 Turner, 2, 3, 9, 11, 40, 42, 46, 47. 
 
 Uwins, Thomas, n. 
 
 Venice, 12. 
 
Index. 
 
 Waagen, Dr., 2, 3. 
 Wakefield, 30. 
 Walker, George, 7, 22. 
 Walker, Thomas, 4, 7, 67. 
 Walker, William, 7. 
 Walpole, Horace, 2. 
 Walton Hall, 7. 
 Watteau, 36. 
 
 Wedderburn, Mrs. L., 38, 52. 
 West, Benjamin, President R.A., 
 
 4, 11, 14, 17, 67, 72. 
 Wetherby, 59. 
 
 Which is the Tallest? by John N. 
 
 Rhodes, 33, 64. 
 Whitaker, 43. 
 Whitby, 26. 
 
 Williamson, James, M.D., 11. 
 Wilson, Richard, of Armley, 13, 
 38, 44- 
 
 Winn, Thomas, 32. 
 
 Woman leading Donkeys, by John 
 
 N. Rhodes, 57. 
 Woman wading a Brook, by John 
 
 N. Rhodes, 54. 
 Wynn, 2. 
 
 York, 2. 
 
 Yorkshire, 4, 9, 11, 16, 18, 23, 26, 
 27. 34. 40, 50, 5°> 66. * 
 
 Yorkshire Costume, book on, by 
 George Walker, 7. 
 
 Yorkshire Cottage, A, by John N. 
 Rhodes, 50. 
 
 Yorkshire Farmstead, A, by John 
 
 N. Rhodes, 50. 
 Young Bird, The, by John N. 
 
 Rhodes, 33. 
 
 Bemrose &* Sons, Ltd., London, Watford, Derby and Leeds.