Obadiah Short | |
|---|---|
 Undated photograph by J. L. Brewery (Norfolk Museums Collections) | |
| Born | 26 July 1803 Norwich |
| Died | 15 July 1886 (aged 82) Norwich |
| Nationality | English |
| Education | No formal education or training |
| Known for | Landscape painting, fabric pattern design |
| Movement | Norwich School of painters |
| Spouse | Susan(nah) Kyburt |
Obadiah Short (26 July 1803 – 15 July 1886) was an amateur British painter of landscapes. He is associated with the Norwich School of painters, which was the first provincial art movement in Britain. He wrote a detailed account of his childhood memories and produced accurate paintings of Norwich scenes, both of which have provided historians with a record of the city he lived in all his life.
Born of poor parents, he was orphaned during the Peninsular War when his mother, who was a camp follower with the British Army, fell sick and died in Lisbon, and his father was killed at the Battle of Corunna a few weeks later. The young Obadiah was subsequently brought up by his grandparents, and worked as a Norwich textile labourer before learning the trade of a weaver. He went on to become a pattern designer for Edward Willett, Nephew & Co., which manufactured shawls, and worked for the firm for 50 years.
After 1829 he began to draw, strongly influenced by the work of James Stark. In 1832 he walked from Norwich to the residence of the Earl of Leicester, and was permitted to study paintings in the Earl's collection. The following year he was commissioned to illustrate the Norwich surgeon John Green Crosse's prize-winning essay on urinary calculi. His paintings usually feature wooded landscapes around Norwich, or rural river scenes.