Jackson is widely regarded as the 'father' of the Bristol School of artists. He was responsible for hanging the first Bristol artists' exhibition at the new Bristol Institution in 1824, the most important artist behind the first exhibition of the Bristol Society of Artists in 1832, and played a large role in the early years of the Bristol Fine Arts Academy in the 1850s. He worked alongside Francis Danby (1793-1861), and shared his interest in the effects of light, as seen in the dramatic and moody sky of the present watercolour. Whilst he was very much a Bristol artist, Jackson travelled extensively, including the West Indies in 1827, as well as throughout Great Britain.
Helvellyn is more accessible than the taller peaks of Scarfell Pike and Scarfell and so was popular with walkers and explorers. Among the early visitors to Helvellyn were the poets Samuel Taylor Coleridge (1772-1834) and William Wordsworth (1770-1850), both of whom, at one time, lived nearby. Wordsworth in his poem, On her first ascent to the summit of Helvellyn,describes the view from the summit thus,
‘Or survey their bright dominions
In the gorgeous colours drest
Flung from off the purple pinions,
Evening spreads throughout the west!
Thine are all the choral fountains
Warbling in each sparry vault
Of the untrodden lunar mountains;
Listen to their songs!
However, traversing the mountain is not without dangers; the romantic artist Charles Gough (1784-1805) died a mysterious death in 1805 on Helvellyn – his skeleton and possessions were found three months later with his loyal terrier still beside him. Gough was seen by some as a martyr of the romantic vision. Francis Danby and Sir Edwin Landseer (1802-1873) painted the scene, Landseer titling his Attachment, exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1830, accompanied by the poem Helvellyn, written about the death by Sir Walter Scott. Jackson has chosen this romantic theme as inspiration, as an exhausted walker rests on the path, his dog beside him, with the mountain looming large before him while a torrent rages below.