Manson

Manson, GEORGE, a Scottish water-colour painter, was born in Edinburgh on 3d December 1850. He served five years as a wood-engraver in the establishment of Messrs W. & R. Chambers, studying art in his spare hours morning and evening. His first picture which attracted attention, 'Milking Time,' was painted at Craigmillar Castle near Edinburgh, between four and eight o'clock of the mornings of a whole summer. In 1871 he devoted himself to painting altogether, but his youthful hard study had permanently injured his health, and he died at Lymstone, Devonshire, 27th February 1876. His pictures, which have increased largely in value since his death, are mostly from humble life; beauty and refinement of drawing and colour are their great charm. A memoir of him, with photographs of his principal pictures, was published in 1880. See also P. G. Hamerton's Graphic Arts, p. 311.