Iris

John Atkinson Grimshaw's 'Iris' (1886) takes its title from the goddess of the rainbow — a subject that connected the natural phenomenon of iridescent color to the mythological figure who personified it. Grimshaw was celebrated for his atmospheric nocturnal and twilight subjects, and his 'Iris' subject would carry the luminous, atmospheric quality that was his primary formal achievement. Whether depicted as a mythological figure or as a symbolic embodiment of the rainbow's colors, the Iris subject suited his engagement with light and atmospheric color.

Grimshaw renders the Iris subject with his characteristic atmospheric luminosity — the specific quality of the iridescent light associated with both the goddess and the rainbow depicted with his sustained investigation of atmospheric light effects. His technique creates the specific quality of light that distinguished his nocturnal and atmospheric subjects from more conventional academic approaches to the same material. The rainbow's color range gave him license for the chromatic investigation that was his primary formal interest.