Cloud Study

John Finnie (1829 – 1907) moved to Liverpool in 1855 on appointment as the Master of the Art School at the Mechanics’ Institute and remained head of the subsequent Art School until retirement in 1896. He became a dominating figure in the Liverpool art scene, exhibiting at the Liverpool Academy from 1856 and the Liverpool Autumn exhibition from 1871. He later founded the Artists’ Club in 1877 and was a member of the Liver Sketching Club, becoming president in 1894. Finnie exhibited more widely at provincial exhibitions, the Royal Academy, the British Institution and the Paris Salon.