Lot 76: JOHN RALSTON (1789-1833)

AN EXTENSIVE VIEW OF MANCHESTER, FROM THE SOUTH-WEST, WITH WOOD-SAWYERS IN THE FOREGROUND
oil on canvas
41 x 55 3/4 in. (104.2 x 141.6 cm.)

with Pawsey & Payne Ltd., London.

This rare and early view of Manchester, painted circa 1820, was probably from taken from Broughton or Kersal, from the south-west, looking north-east across the growing city with the River Irwell in the foreground. Manchester Cathedral may be seen to the left of the main body of the city and the Pennines are visible in the distance.

Manchester was one of the first cities to industrialise and this picture shows the result of this expansion. The city expanded at a phenomenal rate (between 1811 and 1831 the population more than doubled) largely as a result of Manchester's booming cotton industry, which was then the largest and most important in Britain. Manchester was the first place to combine steam power with the process of spinning. The city and outskirts were quickly dominated by mills and factories (as well as communal housing for the workers), the earliest mills in Manchester having been established in Ancoats by Adam and George Murray during 1798.

This view records the beginnings of Manchester's industrialisation: Ralston contrasts the spread of the city and its smoking chimneys with the traditional occupation of the rustic figures in the foreground. Other artists, such as William Wyld (1806-1889), were also to focus on the rapid industrialistion of Manchester as the development continued (see for example View of Manchester from the Cliff, High Broughton, 1835, Manchester City Art Gallery, and Manchester from Kersal Moor, with rustic figures and goats, 1852, Royal Collection).

Ralston was born in Scotland in 1789 but moved to Manchester in his youth. He is best known for his records of the life and topography of early 19th century Manchester. At the age of seventeen he became a student at Manchester School of Art where he was taught by John Rathbone (c. 1750-1807) and Joseph Parry (1744-1826). Influenced by Rathbone, his taste tended towards the picturesque and he drew castles, ruined abbeys and dilapidated cottages. He was one of the founders of the Manchester Artists Drawing Society in 1829 and was a prolific artist, best known for his series of the Views of the Ancient buildings in Manchester. His topographical studies of Market Sted Lane (now Market Street), Dr White's House in King Street, views of Blackfriars Bridge as well as his drawings of the slum dwellings in derelict inner city areas provide an invaluable record of Manchester at the turn of the 19th century. He died in poverty, aged 44, in 1833.

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