Alfred Henry Robinson Thornton NEAC (1863-1939) was a painter born in Delhi, India. Educated at Trinity College, Cambridge, Thornton then attended the Slade School from 1888 to 1889, and Westminster School of Art from 1890 to 1892, winning prizes for landscape painting. He taught at Westminster School of Art as an assistant to Walter Sickert. He was elected a member of the NEAC in 1895 and the London Group in 1924. A prolific exhibitor, he showed frequently at the RA, NEAC, RBA, Goupil Gallery, Cooling Gallery, RSA, FAS and Redfern Gallery.
Thornton wrote 'The Diary of an Art Student of the Nineties', published the year before his death, which still remains a useful source of information on the various issues and factions that shaped the period. He was a member of the then influential Cheltenham Group, and a memorial exhibition was held at the Redfern Gallery in the year of his passing.
Examples of his work are in the collections Bradford Art Gallery, Manchester City Art Gallery, Leeds City Art Gallery, Leeds University Collection, Museums Sheffield, Victoria Art Gallery, Bath, BM, CAS, and at Tate Gallery, London.
