George Goodwin Kilburne ( 1839 - 1924)

English genre painter specialising in accurately drawn interiors with figures. On leaving at the age of 15, he went to London to serve a five-year apprenticeship as a wood-engraver with the Dalziel brothers. He was highly regarded by his employers, who described him as “industrious and constant” and “one of the most satisfactory pupils we ever had.” His time as an engraver served him well, allowing him to develop the accuracy and detail which would enhance his subsequent painting. He remained with the firm for a further year before leaving to take up watercolour and oil painting professionally, quickly becoming one of the most sought after and well-known artists in England.

Kilburne was elected a member of the New Watercolour Society (RI) in 1866. He became a member of the Royal Miniature Society in 1898 and the Royal Institute of Oil Painters (ROI) in 1883. In London, Kilburne exhibited at the Royal Academy between 1863 and 1918, at the Royal Society of British Artists (Suffolk Street), New Watercolour Society, Royal Miniature Society, Grosvenor Gallery, Dowdeswell Galleries and others. In the regions he exhibited at Royal Birmingham Society of Artists, the Manchester City Art Gallery, the Royal Glasgow Institute of the Fine Arts and the Walker Art Gallery in Liverpool.