John George SOWERBY
Gateshead 1850 - 1914
Biography
Born into a prosperous Gateshead family of glass manufacturers and artists, John George
Sowerby inherited the family business in 1879. However, having little interest in glassmaking and determined instead to take up a career as a painter, he lost significant amounts of money and was eventually declared bankrupt, selling the firm of Sowerby Glass in 1896. Sowerby’s painted oeuvre is largely comprised of landscapes and garden scenes imbued with a distinctly Pre-Raphaelite sensibility, and characterized by strong colour and rich detail. He also worked as a book illustrator, in collaboration with Sir Walter Crane.
