John L. Wimbush

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John L. Wimbush (1854–1914) – Short Biography

John L. Wimbush was an English landscape and portrait painter born as John Winbush in January 1854 in London. The middle initial “L” may have been just an initial, and in some records he appears as John Lewis Winbush. He first exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1889 and continued to show there in the following years.

Family and name
His father, Edward John Winbush, ran the Magpie and Punchbowl hotel in Bishopsgate. John was baptised at St Ethelburga’s in Bishopsgate in February 1854 and was the second of 11 children. The family spelling varied between Winbush and Wimbush, and John later used the name John L. Wimbush. In the 1911 census he is listed as John Lewis Winbush.

Artistic life in London
Around 1871 he was recorded as an “artist student” in London. He moved in the Fitzroy Street/Fitzroy Square artist circle and became friends with James McNeill Whistler and Walter Sickert. One notable painting from this period is An Opium Den At Lime Street (1889), a view of Limehouse opium dens. He maintained a London studio, at times in 8 Fitzroy Street, and his work and circle connected him with many leading artists of the day. He exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1889 and again in 1899–1904, among other years.

Move to Devon and death
Around 1902 he moved to Dartmouth, Devon. He died on 15 March 1914 in Totnes, at age 60, and was reportedly buried at Townstal. His death was connected to the Dartmouth Cottage Hospital, and he had long lived in Dartmouth. His will, probated in 1915, left his estate to his brother Edward Thomas Winbush and to Thomas Braithwaite, a jeweller; the estate was valued at about £73.

Works and legacy
Wimbush painted landscapes and genre scenes, as well as portraits. Notable works include An Opium Den At Lime Street (also linked to the title Lingering Clouds), Waiting for a Bite (1901), The Music Lesson, The Cook Preparing the Fish, The Toy Seller, and The Vegetable Barrow, among others. Some paintings have appeared at auction in recent decades, and pieces are held in collections such as Dartmouth Museum and Dartmouth Guildhall. His nephew Harry Winbush became an architect in Australia.

Provenance note
An Opium Den At Lime Street has a well-documented provenance, having been owned by artists such as Lucian Freud and later Marianne Faithfull, and it is signed J. L. Wimbush.