Talk:John Middleton (Norfolk artist)

John Middleton (Norfolk artist) has been listed as one of the Art and architecture good articles under the good article criteria. If you can improve it further, please do so. If it no longer meets these criteria, you can reassess it.
Review: January 30, 2019. (Reviewed version).

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GA Review[edit]

This review is transcluded from Talk:John Middleton (Norfolk artist)/GA1. The edit link for this section can be used to add comments to the review.

Reviewer: Usernameunique (talk · contribs) 00:33, 24 December 2018 (UTC)[reply]

Lead

which was, when it was founded in 1803 in Norwich, the first provincial art movement in Britain. — Not in body.

- sorted. Hel-hama 13:07, 27 December 2018 (UTC)

purity — Is this in the body?

- not any more! lead section amended a little and body of article amended to reflect this. Hel-hama 21:03, 27 December 2018 (UTC)

which gives them a more modern appearance than the sometimes over-detailed works of other Victorian painters. — Same.

- sorted. Hel-hama 14:03, 28 December 2018 (UTC)

Final two sentences in the second paragraph are a bit clunky, feel like they’re thrown in without transitions.

- sorted. Hel-hama 21:21, 27 December 2018 (UTC)

"the supreme tragedy for the Norwich School of painters". — Only a shortened version of this quotation appears in the body.

- body amended. Hel-hama 17:43, 27 December 2018 (UTC)

Early life and training

John Middleton was born on 9 January 1827 in Norwich in the English county of Norfolk. — Source?

- paragraph edited to clarify that source is for both the first 2 sentences. Hel-hama 07:35, 24 December 2018 (UTC)

by his parents John and Ann Middleton. — Note 2 probably belongs here.

- noted moved. Hel-hama 08:16, 24 December 2018 (UTC)

His wife Ann specialised — Due to the suggestion to move note 2, here I would either just say "His wife specialised" or "His wife Ann, or Mary, specialised.”

- done. Hel-hama 08:46, 24 December 2018 (UTC)

Note 2 mentions sources but does not cite any.

- article edited to make it clear that Mary Middleton was his stepmother, not his mother. She lived with him at Surrey Street. Hel-hama 10:33, 26 December 2018 (UTC)

According to Moore — Who?

- sorted. Hel-hama 08:50, 24 December 2018 (UTC)

Any information on Henry Bright? Worthy of a red link?

Bright is already wikilinked here - did you mean something else? Hel-hama 09:00, 24 December 2018 (UTC)

- connections with Bright added. Hel-hama 17:21, 28 December 2018 (UTC)

Same re: information on Thomas Lound.

Lound is already wikilinked here - did you mean something else? I have described both Bright and Lound with slightly more detail in the paragraph. Hel-hama 09:04, 24 December 2018 (UTC)

- Paragraph included to provide more more information. Hel-hama 22:04, 28 December 2018 (UTC)

devoted young companion — What does this mean?

- sentence amended. Hel-hama 09:44, 26 December 2018 (UTC)

Middleton moved back from London ... to care for his widowed mother — Source? Seems odd to spend this paragraph talking about what Middleton did with his mother after his father died, when note 2 says that sources differ as to whether she predeceased her husband.

- now it's clearer who died when, I'll keep most of the paragraph as it is. Hel-hama 11:59, 26 December 2018 (UTC)

Artistic career

A list of the 29 works exhibited by Middleton from 1847 to 1855 can be found in Dickes' Norwich School of painting. — If they are also all listed in List of artworks by John Middleton, it would be worth mentioning.

- sorted. Hel-hama 08:04, 25 December 2018 (UTC)

Any pictures that could be added to this section?

- done. Hel-hama 19:03, 24 December 2018 (UTC)

Watercolours and oil paintings

William Dickes — Who?

- sorted. Hel-hama 18:14, 24 December 2018 (UTC)

being "delighted in the potentialities of his medium". — Whose words?

- done. Hel-hama 08:10, 25 December 2018 (UTC)

Any sale/auction results? For etchings? Photographs?

- section expanded. Hel-hama 14:45, 27 December 2018 (UTC)

For this section and those on etchings and photographic works, what is the extent of his output? The article doesn’t seem to say other than the reference to 29 works exhibited in London.

- paragraph written, but the sources say very little. Hel-hama 11:25, 29 December 2018 (UTC)

Etchings

are said to resemble the work of John Crome. — Who says?

- sorted. Hel-hama 09:21, 25 December 2018 (UTC)

A set of his etchings were published — When?

- sorted. Hel-hama 09:18, 25 December 2018 (UTC)

References

#23 — Do you mean to cite the library record of the catalogue, or the catalogue itself?

- ref changed. Hel-hama 20:54, 25 December 2018 (UTC)

Bibliography

Is Cheetham 1973 by Francis Cheetham?

- author wikilinked. Hel-hama 18:22, 24 December 2018 (UTC)

Overall

I think this article needs a background section, which can probably be adapted from the one you wrote for George Vincent

- done. Hel-hama 07:36, 27 December 2018 (UTC)

Just how Middleton fits into the Norwich School of painters is unclear. It seems he exhibited primarily in London, so what is his significance to Norwich?

- sorted (I believe) by expanding the sections on his artistic career, and his exhibited work. Hel-hama 22:12, 28 December 2018 (UTC)

Second read

The school's most important artists were John Crome, Joseph Stannard, George Vincent, Robert Ladbrooke, James Stark, John Thirtle and John Sell Cotman, along with Cotman's sons Miles Edmund and John Joseph Cotman. — Should Middleton be added to this list?

- amended. Amitchell125 16:28, 23 January 2019 (UTC)

Cactus Speciocissimus, flowered in the greenhouse of Mr. C. Middleton, April 1828 and Georgina, or Dahlias from Nature (1829) — Are images available?

- nothing published online, or mentioned in the sources, I'm afraid. Amitchell125 16:40, 23 January 2019 (UTC)

Reference #24 needs to be in full form. "NRO" is practically meaningless.

- mistake corrected. Amitchell125 21:22, 23 January 2019 (UTC)

Are there images of Rocks and Trees and Lane over the Hill for the gallery? Rocks and Trees is now attributed to Middleton, not Bright, so has been removed from the text. No image has been found. Amitchell125 16:40, 24 January 2019 (UTC)

- Lane over the Hill added, but not in the gallery, as Henry Bright painted it.

he and Leman were the pivot of the remaining Norwich artists — Not really sure what "pivot" means in this context.

- sentenced amended. Amitchell125 04:42, 24 January 2019 (UTC)

his pioneering images of landscapes and his estate workers — You don't need the second "his", which makes it seem as if he was known for his actual workers (as opposed to paintings of them).

- sorted. Amitchell125 04:33, 24 January 2019 (UTC)

have an affinity with — Can you be more specific?

- section expanded accordingly. Amitchell125 17:25, 24 January 2019 (UTC)

Refs 6, 14–16, 23, and 60 don't work.

- references sorted out. Amitchell125 15:56, 24 January 2019 (UTC)

Looks pretty good, Amitchell125. Main issues is the need for a background section, and his artistic output seems a bit underdeveloped. Comments are above; ~~fyi, I still need to take a look at the references, but do not foresee any major issues there.~~ —Usernameunique (talk) 00:33, 24 December 2018 (UTC)[reply]

Amitchell125, just a few more comments above. --Usernameunique (talk) 19:50, 19 January 2019 (UTC)[reply]

Thanks Amitchell125, passing now. Another nice article to read and review. --Usernameunique (talk) 23:26, 30 January 2019 (UTC)[reply]