John Henry Henshall, usually known as Henry Henshall (

Manchester Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The t ...

1856 – 18 November 1928 Bosham) was a British watercolourist and

etcher Etching is traditionally the process of using strong acid or mordant to cut into the unprotected parts of a metal surface to create a design in intaglio (incised) in the metal. In modern manufacturing, other chemicals may be used on other types ...

Life

Henshall was born in

. Leaving school at the age of sixteen, Henry – he preferred his second forename to that of John – attended the

Manchester School of Art Manchester School of Art in Manchester, England, was established in 1838 as the Manchester School of Design. It is the second oldest art school in the United Kingdom after the Royal College of Art which was founded the year before. It is now par ...

, where he was taught by William Jabez Muckley, who was a talented but demanding master. In March 1876 he travelled to London to join the

South Kensington School of Art The Royal College of Art (RCA) is a public research university in London, United Kingdom, with campuses in South Kensington, Battersea and White City. It is the only entirely postgraduate art and design university in the United Kingdom. It off ...

, but he remained there only one term, passing in the following June to the Royal Academy on the special recommendation of

Edward Poynter Sir Edward John Poynter, 1st Baronet (20 March 183626 July 1919) was an English painter, designer, and draughtsman, who served as President of the Royal Academy. Life Poynter was the son of architect Ambrose Poynter. He was born in Paris, F ...

. In 1880 he was awarded a Royal Academy silver medal for a ''Painting of a Head from the Life'', almost certainly the fine watercolour ''An Egyptian Muleteer'' now in the collection of the

Victoria and Albert Museum The Victoria and Albert Museum (often abbreviated as the V&A) in London is the world's largest museum of applied arts, decorative arts and design, housing a permanent collection of over 2.27 million objects. It was founded in 1852 and nam ...

. Although Henshall did paint some oils he was principally a watercolourist, being elected an Associate of the RWS in 1883, and becoming one of the Society's forty full members in 1897. He exhibited 171 pictures at the RWS and his diploma work, ''La Serenata'', may be viewed at the Society's

Bankside Bankside is an area of London, England, within the London Borough of Southwark. Bankside is located on the southern bank of the River Thames, east of Charing Cross, running from a little west of Blackfriars Bridge to just a short distance befo ...

gallery. A favourite theme of Henshall's work is the contrast between the happy innocence of childhood, without cares, and the tribulations of old age. He was not afraid to tackle uncomfortable subjects and his honest, realistic pictures of ordinary life were quite unusual for painters in the Victorian era. In April 1912 the

Leicester Galleries Leicester Galleries was an art gallery located in London from 1902 to 1977 that held exhibitions of modern British, French and international artists' works. Its name was acquired in 1984 by Peter Nahum, who operates "Peter Nahum at the Leiceste ...

in London had an exhibition of Henshall's watercolours of Country Folk (catalogue No. 162). Henshall died in Bosham, near

Chichester Chichester () is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and civil parish in West Sussex, England.OS Explorer map 120: Chichester, South Harting and Selsey Scale: 1:25 000. Publisher:Ordnance Survey – Southampton B2 edition. Publi ...

, on 18 November 1928, aged 72 and leaving behind his wife, Elizabeth Henshall.'Deaths’, ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper '' The Sunday Times'' (f ...

'', 22 November 1928, p. 1 ront-page

References

John Ramm, ‘Out of Oblivion’, ''Antique Dealer & Collectors Guide'', August 1990, Vol. 44 No. 1, pp. 45–47. {{DEFAULTSORT:Henshall, John Henry 19th-century English painters English male painters 20th-century English painters 1928 deaths 1856 births Artists from Manchester English etchers 20th-century British printmakers People from Bosham 20th-century English male artists 19th-century English male artists