John William North

John William North ARA RWS (London 1 January 1842 – 20 December 1924 Stamborough, Somerset) was an English landscape painter and illustrator, a member of the Idyllists.

North was born in Walham Green in London, England. His father Charles North was a draper who together with his wife Fanny kept a shop in the area. They had three children apart from John - Charles, Fanny and Alfred. Little is known of John's early schooling, although he claimed to have been an avid reader from the age of 6 years. He left school at the age of 12.

Due to a downturn in business, John's father was forced to shut up shop and relocate the business to Worthing (on the Sussex coast). After the business failed again, John's parents decided to emigrate with the youngest son Alfred to Canada. It is thought that John (then 14) and his two siblings, Charles and Fanny, were looked after by various relatives including an uncle in Walham Green, and a great uncle who owned a farm near Kimpton in Hertfordshire.

He showed artistic ability at a young age and received some training at art school as well as instruction from a local artist called Hackman. At the age of 10 he completed his first watercolour, The Thames from Wandsworth, which was subsequently exhibited by the Royal Watercolour Society in 1919. A number of other watercolours and sketches were also completed in his teens.

At the age of 16, he was apprenticed to produce illustrations for the notable London-based wood engraver Josiah Whymper. There North became friends with Frederick Walker, Arthur Boyd Houghton and George John Pinwell, who would later become associated with the Idyllic school. He worked - using a brush and pencil - on black and white illustrations for various publications, gaining a reputation for the quality of his landscapes.

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