Grimshaw’s Thames: A London Night in the Forsyte Era

The tension between admiration and possession is compared in Grimshaw’s canvas and John Galsworthy’s ‘The Forsyte Saga.’

"Reflections on the Thames, Westminster," 1880, by John Atkinson Grimshaw. Oil on canvas. Leeds Art Gallery, UK. Public Domain

If you’ve ever lost yourself in the intrigue of “Bridgerton” or the drama of “Downton Abbey,” “The Forsytes” is your next obsession. The sweeping family saga, steeped in longing, ambition, and betrayal, arrives on “Masterpiece” this March.

Adapted from John Galsworthy’s novel series, “The Forsyte Saga” follows a wealthy upper-middle-class London family across four decades, from the 1880s through the 1920s. At its center is Soames Forsyte, a solicitor whose need to own material possessions shapes his relationship with everything and everyone around him. When he admires a painting, he acquires it—and that instinct, to convert beauty into property, drives the drama at every turn.