John William North

John William North ARA RWS (London 1 January 1842 – 20 December 1924 Stamborough, Somerset) was a British landscape painter and illustrator, a prominent member of the Idyllists.

There North became friends with Frederick Walker, Arthur Boyd Houghton and George John Pinwell, who would later become associated with the Idyllic school.

He worked – using a brush and pencil – on black and white illustrations for various publications, gaining a reputation for the quality of his landscapes.

[1] In 1868 he moved to Somerset, renting a room at Halsway Manor near Crowcombe – his friend and fellow artist Frederick Walker also lived there.

In 1884 North married the 21-year-old Selina Weetch at Bicknoller Church in Somerset, setting up home in Beggearn Huish House in Nettlecombe.

The term "idyllist" is more properly applied to North's earlier black and white landscapes, which were driven by the necessity to illustrate a particular literary narrative.

[3][4] In 1895, North helped to develop a new, kind of linen-based art paper that was extraordinarily durable and ideally suited to the demands of the watercolourist.

He built up his forms by applying the paints in very small dots and touches of pure colour – a technique predating pointillism by a decade.