John Middleton

1827 - 1856

John Middleton was the youngest and the last important member of the Norwich School of painters, the first provincial art movement in Britain. As well as being an innovative watercolourist and talented etcher, he produced oil paintings and was an enthusiastic amateur photographer. Middleton's father, also named John, was a Norwich glass stainer. His mother painted plants and twice exhibited her work with the Norwich Society of Artists. Middleton studied under John Berney Ladbrooke and Henry Bright, first exhibiting before the age of twenty and going on to show both the Royal Academy and the British Institution. His best watercolours display masterly tonal values, confidence and freshness, giving them a more modern appearance than most of his contemporaries. His death at 29 from tuberculosis has been described as "the supreme tragedy for the Norwich School of painters", and he was undoubtedly its last great exponent. Middleton was one of the earliest artists to use a camera as an aid to producing watercolour landscapes, working in the medium whilst it was still in its infancy.