Railway Painting by John Chapman

A good railway painting by John Chapman of the oldest working locomotive in Britain ‘Lion’. unframed. Gouache on board. Signed lower left: 9.25 inches x 6.5 inches.

John Chapman was born in 1946 in Blackburn, Lancashire. He is a painter of urban landscapes, townscapes, transport, rural and maritime scenes amongst other subjects. He has painted mainly in acrylics, but he is equally proficient with oils, watercolours and gouache.

Chapman attended Blackburn Art College, but also worked as a junior layout artist in Blackburn’s local newspaper. In 1968, John decided to become a professional artist. He then made his way to the galleries of Manchester. J. Davey & Son, a gallery on Bridge Street, bought several railway paintings there and then. Almost immediately John received commissions for specific subjects and in oils.

The Haworth Art Gallery in Accrington was the first Lancashire gallery to display his work. Blackburn Art Gallery hosted an exhibition of John’s work in 1980, beginning an association that has lasted over 20 years. The exhibition was preceded by a TV interview with Stuart Hall, which was shown on ‘Look North West’. Over 600 people visited the exhibition on the first day, making it one of the gallery’s most popular and successful exhibitions. In 1984, John exhibited at the Royal Academy.

By the late ’80s, John was working in acrylics almost exclusively, although he still regularly uses gouache, watercolours, and occasionally oils. John’s keen eye for period detail has bought a steady flow of requests from commercial clients looking to recreate something of their own earlier histories. These clients include Rochdale Co-operative Society and Harrods.

 

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