An original watercolour by Yorkshire based artist George Anderson Short (1956-1945).

Short was born in Northumberland, but later moved to Halifax where he worked as a carpet designer at Dean Clough Mills.

He had limited recognition as an artist in his lifetime, with most of his sales being commissions. Despite this, he painted continuously and produced hundreds of oil paintings and watercolours. The subject matters are typically scenes of working class life in Yorkshire, pub scenes and country sports.

This particular painting is very unlike a lot of his work, it’s set in the dark of night and features a crowd of men around a large bonfire. They appear to be carrying out a task as part of a large organised workforce, perhaps dispersing of surplus material from a factory.

There is a label on the back which shows the painting was gifted in 1990. In the 1980s Short’s daughter was approaching 100 years old and concerned her father’s artwork might not be handled sympathetically after her death. Consequently, hundreds of paintings were unearthed and sold to a West Yorkshire art dealer. This painting could have very likely been one of those unearthed paintings and was gifted shortly after.

Signed and dated lower right, the date isn’t particularly clear but looks to end with /38.

Frame measures 32cm x 27cm

Aperture measures 18cm x 11.5cm