James Dickson Innes (27 February 1887 – 22 August 1914) was a British painter, mainly of mountain landscapes but occasionally of figure subjects. He worked in both oils and watercolours.

Style

Of his style, art historian David Fraser Jenkins wrote: "Like that of the fauves in France and the

expressionists Expressionism is a modernist movement, initially in poetry and painting, originating in Northern Europe around the beginning of the 20th century. Its typical trait is to present the world solely from a subjective perspective, distorting it rad ...

in Germany, the style of his work is primitive: it is child-like in technique and is associated with the landscape of remote places."

Biography

Girl Standing by a Lake James Dickson Innes

James Dickson Innes was born on 27 February 1887 in

Llanelli Llanelli ("St Elli's Parish"; ) is a market town and the largest community in Carmarthenshire and the preserved county of Dyfed, Wales. It is located on the Loughor estuary north-west of Swansea and south-east of the county town, Carmarthen. ...

, in south Wales. His father, John Innes, who had come from

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...

, was an historian and had an interest in a local brass and copper works; his mother was of

Catalan Catalan may refer to: Catalonia From, or related to Catalonia: * Catalan language, a Romance language * Catalans, an ethnic group formed by the people from, or with origins in, Northern or southern Catalonia Places * 13178 Catalan, asteroid #1 ...

descent. He had two brothers, Alfred and Jack. His parents sent him to be educated at Christ College, Brecon. Afterwards he studied at the

Carmarthen Carmarthen (, RP: ; cy, Caerfyrddin , "Merlin's fort" or "Sea-town fort") is the county town of Carmarthenshire and a community in Wales, lying on the River Towy. north of its estuary in Carmarthen Bay. The population was 14,185 in 2011, ...

School of Art (1904–05), from where he won a scholarship to the

Slade School of Art The UCL Slade School of Fine Art (informally The Slade) is the art school of University College London (UCL) and is based in London, England. It has been ranked as the UK's top art and design educational institution. The school is organised as ...

in London (1905–1908). His teachers at the Slade included P. Wilson Steer. From 1907 he exhibited with the

New English Art Club The New English Art Club (NEAC) was founded in London in 1885 as an alternative venue to the Royal Academy. It continues to hold an annual exhibition of paintings and drawings at the Mall Galleries in London, exhibiting works by both members and a ...

; and in 1911 he became a member of the

Camden Town Group The Camden Town Group was a group of English Post-Impressionist artists founded in 1911 and active until 1913. They gathered frequently at the studio of painter Walter Sickert in the Camden Town area of London. History In 1908, critic Frank R ...

. The Camden Town Group included

Walter Sickert Walter Richard Sickert (31 May 1860 – 22 January 1942) was a German-born British painter and printmaker who was a member of the Camden Town Group of Post-Impressionist artists in early 20th-century London. He was an important influence on d ...

who was an influence on Innes's art, and

Augustus John Augustus Edwin John (4 January 1878 – 31 October 1961) was a Welsh painter, draughtsman, and etcher. For a time he was considered the most important artist at work in Britain: Virginia Woolf remarked that by 1908 the era of John Singer Sarg ...

with whom Innes became friends. In 1911 Innes had a two-man exhibition with

Eric Gill Arthur Eric Rowton Gill, (22 February 1882 – 17 November 1940) was an English sculptor, letter cutter, typeface designer, and printmaker. Although the ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'' describes Gill as ″the greatest artist-cra ...

at the

Chenil Gallery The Chenil Gallery (often referred to as the Chenil Galleries, or New Chenil Galleries) was a British art gallery and sometime-music studio in Chelsea, London between 1905 and 1927, and later the location of various businesses referencing this ear ...

, London: "Sculptures by Mr Eric Gill and Landscapes by Mr J. D. Innes", and in he Innes exhibited in the influential

Armory Show The 1913 Armory Show, also known as the International Exhibition of Modern Art, was a show organized by the Association of American Painters and Sculptors in 1913. It was the first large exhibition of modern art in America, as well as one of ...

in New York City, Chicago and Boston. The Welsh politician and philanthropist

Winifred Coombe Tennant Mrs Winifred Margaret Coombe Tennant (1 November 1874 – 31 August 1956) was a British suffragist, Liberal politician, philanthropist, patron of the arts and spiritualist. She and her husband lived near Swansea in South Wales, where she becam ...

(1874–1956) was an important patron of his work. In 1911 and 1912 he spent some time painting with Augustus John around

Arenig Fawr Arenig Fawr ( en, Great High Ground) is a mountain in Snowdonia, North Wales, close to Llyn Celyn reservoir, alongside the A4212 between Trawsfynydd and Bala. Location Arenig Fawr is the highest member of the Arenig range, with Arenig Fach ( ...

in the Arenig valley in

North Wales , area_land_km2 = 6,172 , postal_code_type = Postcode , postal_code = LL, CH, SY , image_map1 = Wales North Wales locator map.svg , map_caption1 = Six principal areas of Wales common ...

; John describes him thus in his memoirs, ''Chiaroscuro'':John, Augustus. ''Chiaroscuro'', p. 202, Jonathan Cape, 1952. : He himself cut an arresting figure: a Quaker hat, a coloured silk scarf, and a long black overcoat, set off features of a slightly cadaverous cast, with glittering black eyes, a wide sardonic mouth, a prominent nose and a large bony forehead, invaded by streaks of thin black hair. He carried an ebony cane with a gold top, and spoke with a heavy English accent, which had been imposed on an agreeable Welsh sub-stratum. Much of his work was done overseas, mainly in France (1908–1913), notably at

Collioure Collioure (; ca, Cotlliure, ) is a commune in the southern French department of Pyrénées-Orientales. Geography The town of Collioure is on the Côte Vermeille (Vermilion Coast), in the canton of La Côte Vermeille and in the arrondissement ...

, but also in Spain (1913) and Morocco (1913) – foreign travel having been prescribed after he was diagnosed with

tuberculosis Tuberculosis (TB) is an infectious disease usually caused by '' Mycobacterium tuberculosis'' (MTB) bacteria. Tuberculosis generally affects the lungs, but it can also affect other parts of the body. Most infections show no symptoms, in ...

. On 22 August 1914, at the age of twenty-seven, he died of the disease at a nursing home in

Swanley Swanley is a town and civil parish in the Sevenoaks District of Kent, England, southeast of central London, adjacent to the Greater London boundary and within the M25 motorway periphery. The population at the 2011 census was 16,226. History I ...

, Kent.

Legacy

Innes was unusual for a British artist of that time, because of his bold painting style, more attuned to the French

post-impressionists Post-Impressionism (also spelled Postimpressionism) was a predominantly French art movement that developed roughly between 1886 and 1905, from the last Impressionist exhibition to the birth of Fauvism. Post-Impressionism emerged as a reaction aga ...

. It has been argued his unusual style led the way for British artists such as

David Hockney David Hockney (born 9 July 1937) is an English painter, draftsman, printmaker, stage designer, and photographer. As an important contributor to the pop art movement of the 1960s, he is considered one of the most influential British artists o ...

. In 2014 an exhibition of Innes' works was staged at the

National Museum of Wales National may refer to: Common uses * Nation or country ** Nationality – a ''national'' is a person who is subject to a nation, regardless of whether the person has full rights as a citizen Places in the United States * National, Maryland, ce ...

, Cardiff. He was top G yes sir

Select works

* ''The Seine at Caudebec'' (1908) * ''Thunder in the Mountains'' (1910) * ''The Waterfall'' (1910) (

Tate Gallery, London Tate is an institution that houses, in a network of four art galleries, the United Kingdom's national collection of British art, and international modern and contemporary art. It is not a government institution, but its main sponsor is the U ...

) * ''Moorland Landscape with Sunset, Collioure'' () (

Winnipeg Art Gallery The Winnipeg Art Gallery (WAG) is an art museum in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. Its permanent collection includes over 24,000 works from Canadian, Indigenous Canadian, and international artists. The museum also holds the world's largest collect ...

) * ''The Cathedral at Elne'' (1911) (

National Museum Cardiff National Museum Cardiff ( cy, Amgueddfa Genedlaethol Caerdydd) is a museum and art gallery in Cardiff, Wales. The museum is part of the wider network of Amgueddfa Cymru – National Museum Wales. Entry is kept free by a grant from the Welsh Go ...

) * ''Tryweryn Valley'' (1911) (

Parc Howard Museum Parc Howard Museum & Art Gallery is a museum in a 19th-century Italianate country house, situated in of parkland, north of the town centre of Llanelli in Carmarthenshire, Wales. The park is registered on the Cadw/ICOMOS Register of Parks an ...

, Llanelli) * ''Bala Lake'' (1911) * ''Ranunculus'' (1912) (

Walker Art Gallery The Walker Art Gallery is an art gallery in Liverpool, which houses one of the largest art collections in England outside London. It is part of the National Museums Liverpool group. History of the Gallery The Walker Art Gallery's collection ...

Liverpool Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a popul ...

) * ''Arenig, North Wales'' (1913) (Tate Gallery, London) * ''Inkwell and Pens'' ( Museum of Modern Art Wales,

Machynlleth Machynlleth () is a market town, community and electoral ward in Powys, Wales and within the historic boundaries of Montgomeryshire. It is in the Dyfi Valley at the intersection of the A487 and the A489 roads. At the 2001 Census it had a popul ...

)

Media

In 2011 Innes and Augustus John's fascination with painting

and the Arenig valley was the subject of a

BBC Four BBC Four is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It was launched on 2 March 2002

documentary titled ''The Mountain That Had to Be Painted''.

References

External links

National Museum of Wales, Art collections
*
Tate – James Dickson Innes 1887–1914

Blue Plaque for James Dickson Innes in Llanelli
{{DEFAULTSORT:Innes, James Dickson 1887 births 1914 deaths Welsh people of Scottish descent People from Llanelli People educated at Christ College, Brecon Alumni of the Slade School of Fine Art 20th-century Welsh painters 20th-century Welsh male artists Welsh male painters 20th-century deaths from tuberculosis Tuberculosis deaths in England