Old Greenock

Nocturnal dock scenes, with their forests of masts, glowing shop fronts and glossy streets constitute some of Grimshaw's most memorable images. Indeed his current world auction record is for such a scene of Liverpool docks which is painted on the same scale and is of a similar date to the current picture. His earliest dock subjects, which include Glasgow and Hull as well as Liverpool and Greenock date from his move to Knostrop Hall in 1870, which marked his growing wealth and security as a professional artist and an increasing consistency in his style.

Greenock lies to the west of Glasgow on the south bank of the Clyde. Its prosperity came for shipbuilding, wool manufacturing: by the end of the 19th Century around 400 ships a year were transporting sugar from the Caribbean to Greenock for processing. Its growing wealth and importance is reflected in its architecture. In the middle distance of the present picture can be seen the portico of William Burn's Custom House of 1818, considered the finest in the country. Grimshaw's present depiction of this burgeoning port coincided with the completion of the Italianate Municipal Buildings in 1886.

The first recorded owner of the picture, Sir Malcolm Donald McEacharn, was a self-made ship owner and politician who founded the shipping company Scottish Line.