The award-winning artist David Atkins, has long established himself as an evocative landscape painter, but his latest exhibition, now on show at the Sarah Wiseman Gallery, South Parade, Summertown, proves he can capture vibrant city scenes too. At the invitation of Sara Wiseman, David spent a period during the winter painting scenes of Oxford. Indeed, many visitors to Oxford during the past few months may well have encountered him painting in Cornmarket Street or Radcliffe Square. He works directly from the environment, often revisiting places many times, and in all weather conditions to ensure he has captured the very essence of a historic building, a shop or street.

His paintings are concerned with capturing light, wind, rain and colour, and are produced with vigour and intuitiveness, as is obvious when viewed. The remarkable thing about many of his works is that although it is quite clear they were painted on a cold rainy winter’s day (as in the study of the High, below) they capture warmth and light too. Shop windows sparkle, sunsets illuminate the stones of college buildings and streetlights cast a warm glow on slippery wet pavements.

While working in Oxford, David took his painting materials into Christ Church Cathedral (above) where he used his brush to cover the canvas with clear bold sweeps of colour that takes the eye along the central aisle to the main altar. This is a magnificent painting which incorporates a few figures into a scene illuminated by both lights and a wintry sun streaming through the windows.

Waiting for the bus, Carfax, manages to capture the hustle and bustle of a city moist with rain and dimmed by a darkening sky. Lincoln College from Turl Street is equally atmospheric. One senses the great age of this ancient street, with its fascinating little shops that stand in the shadow of the church of St Mary the Virgin. Winter Evening Radcliffe Square, set against a vibrant white sky filled with snow that glows gold from city lights, is a superb depiction of this famous place.

David Atkins’s oil paintings of Oxford will remain on show at the Sarah Wiseman Gallery until March 28. Those who love our city should make an effort to see just how effectively he has harnessed its soul with his luminous palette.