Joseph Thors

19th century Victorian English Village scene, with sheep, Cottage and river

Joseph Thors was born on August 25, 1835, in Amsterdam. He was a landscape painter who lived in London but also painted in the Midlands, where he is regarded as a member of the Birmingham School. His landscapes are mainly rustic cottages, figures and animals, painted in a style similar to that of the Norwich School. Naturalistic landscape painting was the fundamental aim of both the Norwich and Birmingham Schools. Thors was quite prodigious in his output. He was a draughtsman of peaceful little spots of nature, with their little hidden homesteads and winding paths, which he represents, in a refined and contemplative mood. Thors exhibited at the Royal Academy of Arts, British Institution and Suffolk Street between 1863–1900. At this period in his career, he was very influenced by the Nasmyth and Norfolk schools of painting, hence the darker tones in the landscape. Thors died in 1884, in Islington, London.