亨利·道森
自学成才的写实风景画家
Born in Kingston upon Hull, Dawson went with his parents to Nottingham when he was still an infant and always regarded the latter as his native town. His parents were poor, and he began life in a Nottingham lace factory. But even while engaged in lace-making he continued to find time for art, and used to paint small pictures, which he sold at first for about half-a-crown each. In 1835 he gave up the lace trade and set up as an artist, his earliest patron being a hairdresser in Nottingham, who possessed a taste for art. In 1844 he removed to Liverpool, where after a time he got into greater repute, and received higher prices for his works. In 1849 he came with his family to London, and settled at Croydon, where some of his best pictures were painted. Among these may be reckoned 'The Wooden Walls of Old England,' exhibited at the British Institution in 1853, 'The Rainbow,' 'The Rainbow at Sea,' 'London Bridge,' and ' London at Sunrise.' 除了在1838年从派恩那里上过六节课之外，亨利·道森完全是一位自学成才的艺术家，他的艺术展现出极大的原创性和细致的写实主义。他亲自研究自然，但在晚年似乎受到透纳的影响，尝试了此前不敢涉足的更为绚丽的效果。事实上，他的许多作品在处理手法上极具透纳风格，尽管很难称他为透纳的模仿者，因为他拥有自己独特的鲜明风格。 亨利·道森虽然画作颇丰，并在晚年以高价出售其作品，但奇怪的是，除了艺术家和鉴赏家之外，他几乎无人知晓，直到1878年为诺丁汉展览而编纂的大型且非常有趣的作品集为他带来了更广泛的声誉。这次展览表明他是一位真正的英国风景画家，虽无非凡的想象力或智力才华，但他热爱自然，并尽其所能忠实地描绘自然。他于1878年12月在奇斯威克去世，此前他已在此居住了一段时间。