Alfred East was born in Kettering in Northamptonshire, and as a young boy showed a keen interest in drawing and painting. At the age of fifteen he began working in a shoe and boot factory, and by 1874 he had been promoted to a position representing the company in Glasgow, where he was living with his wife. Here he began his formal art education, studying at the Glasgow

career, he left the shoe trade and went to France School of Art. Deciding to pursue art as a full-time

where he studied at the Académie Julian in Paris in the 1880s. Several other artists represented in this exhibition also attended the Académie Julian.

East was influenced by the French Barbizon school of artists, which was active from about 1830-1870, and named after the village of Barbizon on the edge of the Forest of Fontainebleau. They painted romantic pictures of rural landscapes and scenes of village life. Jean-Baptiste-Camille Corot (whose work was admired by Claude Monet) had been drawn to the forest to paint in 1829 and was linked with the Barbizon artists.

East was an accomplished and prolific artist. He toured Great Britain, France, Italy, Spain and Japan producing sketches, watercolours and oils. From 1883 he exhibited at the Royal Academy in London, and having been elected an Associate in 1899, he was made a full member in 1913, In 1906 he was elected as President of the Royal Society of British Artists. That same year he published an illustrated book describing his artistic techniques entitled The Art of Landscape Painting in Oil Colour. In the book’s preface he wrote:

The greatest errors in landscape painting are to be found – contradictory as it may appear – not so much in the matter of technique as in the painter’s attitude toward Nature”

In this painting East has carefully depicted the effects of strong sunlight on the trees and distant landscape, contrasting naturalistically with the shade thrown by the storm clouds. A shepherd gazes at his flock grazing beneath the brees under the ominous sky, held within the power and wonder of nature.

Provenance: Lain Art Gallery collection

Object description
Type: Easel Painting
Location: South Shields Museum, Tyne & Wear
Material: Oil on canvas
Artist: Alfred East (1844-1913)
Date: c.1900

Image Details
Date: 4 May 2026
Camera body: iPhone Xs
Lens: Telephoto Camera 52mm ƒ/2.4
Focal Length: 52mm
Aperture: ƒ/2.4
Shutter Speed: 1/33s
ISO: 400
Licensing: Image of a North East Museums asset. This image cannot be licensed.