Product Description

The year 2002 marks the bicentenary of the death of George Romney, one of the key figures in British art in the late 18th century. A chief rival of Sir Joshua Reynolds and Thomas Gainsborough - and for much of his career more fashionable than both - he was known both as a portraitist and as a draftsman. His countless studies for literary and mythological pictures, made in private moments but which he never had time to paint, are executed in a bold, spontaneous style that mark him as one of the first Romantics. One hundred years ago Romney's reputation was at its peak. Collectors fought to obtain his portraits of fresh-faced English women, above all his portraits of Emma Hart, later Lady Hamilton, who in her youth was Romney's favourite model and with whom he was widely supposed to have had an affair. As the more snobbish and sexist aspects of Edwardian taste became outdated, Romney's art fell spectacularly from favour. His career remains little understood and many of his best-known works are among his least distinguished. He both drew and painted with freedom and with a dramatic expressiveness unmatched in British portraiture of his day. Even later in life, as overwork and disenchantment sapped his enthusiasm, Romney was able to rekindle his energies for special sitters and when working on his occasionally sublime literary and historical paintings. This book provides a fully rounded overview of his career.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #1809298 in Books
• Published on: 2002-02-22
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 256 pages

Review
Alex Kidson set out to show Romney whole, and [his efforts] seem to me exemplary in this attempt. -- James Fenton, New York Review of Books

George Romney is possibly the most unappreciated British painter of the 18th century . . . . [He] hoped to be known as a painter of historical and literary scenes. Kidson highlights these works as early examples of Romantic art. Kidson's notes are lucid and his scholarship first-rate, and the reproductions are of excellent quality. -- Review

Kidson's notes are lucid and his scholarship first-rate, and the reproductions are of excellent quality. -- Virginia Quarterly Review

Review
George Romney once belonged, as Alex Kidson reminds us . . to the foremost ranks of blue-chip artists. . . . Romney was a complex man. . . . Alex Kidson set out to show Romney whole, and [his efforts] seem to me exemplary in this attempt.
(James Fenton New York Review of Books )

Kidson has succeeded in achieving the aims he explicitly states in his introduction. . . . His comments on each work in the catalog are extensive and illuminating. The reproductions are good and the bibliography extensive.
(Choice )

Kidson has succeeded in achieving the aims he explicitly states in his introduction. He wants both to restore the stature of the misunderstood and ignored Romney to his rightful position as a leading British artist of the 18th century and to outline the scope of his achievements. . . . His comments on each work in the catalog are extensive and illuminating. The reproductions are good and the bibliography extensive.
(Choice )

George Romney is possibly the most unappreciated British painter of the 18th century . . . . [He] hoped to be known as a painter of historical and literary scenes. Kidson highlights these works as early examples of Romantic art. Kidson's notes are lucid and his scholarship first-rate, and the reproductions are of excellent quality.
(Virginia Quarterly Review )

Review
Alex Kidson's excellent catalogue will no doubt set the standard for Romney scholarship for years to come. Its importance can scarcely be overestimated. Kidson has unearthed lost paintings and discovered unfamiliar drawings in little known private collections. He has presented many fresh ideas, corrected numerous errors in attribution, and revealed the present location of works. All of this provides invaluable, updated information.
(Yvonne Dixon, Trinity College, Washington, D.C. )