John Augustus Atkinson

John Augustus Atkinson (c. 1775 – 1830) was an English artist, engraver and watercolourist.

In 1784, he went to St. Petersburg to his uncle James Walker, engraver to the empress Catherine the Great.

[2] There he studied in the picture galleries, encouraged by Catherine and her son Paul I, and was commissioned by Paul to paint large pictures of Russian history.

In 1801, Atkinson returned to England, and in 1803 published A Picturesque Representation of the Manners, Customs, and Amusements of the Russians, in 100 plates, drawn and etched by himself.

He also painted in watercolours and in 1808 was elected to the Society of Painters in Water Colours.

Retreat of the French Grand Army from Moscow, intercepted by Russian Cossack, 1812 , published January 1813
Sailors at Prayer on board Lord Nelson's Ship (after the Battle of the Nile ).
British Sailors Boarding a Man of War - depicting the recapture of HMS Hermione by the crew of HMS Surprise .