Synopses & Reviews
This magnificent catalogue, in three volumes and with nearly 2,000 illustrations, will restore George Romney (1734andndash;1802) to his long-overdue position andndash; with his contemporaries Reynolds and Gainsborough andndash; as a master of 18th-century British portrait painting. The product of impressive and thorough research undertaken over the course of 20 years, Alex Kidson asserts Romneyandrsquo;s status as one of the greatest British painters, whose last catalogue raisonnandeacute; was published over 100 years ago. In more than 1,800 entries, many supported by new photography, Kidson aims to solve longstanding issues of attribution, distinguishing genuine pictures by Romney from works whose traditional attribution to him can no longer be supported. The authorandrsquo;s insights are guided by rich primary source material on Romneyandmdash;including account books, ledgers, and sketchbooksandmdash;as well as secondary sources such as prints after lost works, newspaper reports and reviews, and writings by Romneyandrsquo;s contemporaries.
Synopsis
When Thomas Gainsborough (1727-1788) arrived in the spa town of Bath, England, at the age of thirty-one, he was an artist of modest reputation. When he left sixteen years later, he was recognized as one of Europe's foremost painters. In this exceptional book, Susan Sloman examines for the first time how this transformation took place. She offers an entirely new view of Gainsborough's development during his middle years as well as abundant new information about Bath and its role, for a few decades in the eighteenth century, as a cultural center of Europe.
Drawing on freshly discovered documents and a variety of little-known contemporary published sources, Sloman illuminates artistic activity in Bath and Gainsborough's part in it. She reveals how Gainsborough's prominence as an artist and Bath's as a cultural hub were intimately connected during a period in which the artist and his town flourished together.
Published for the Paul Mellon Centre for Studies in British Art
Synopsis
This essential catalogue raisonnandeacute;, beautifully illustrated and backed by 20 years of impressive research, asserts Romneyandrsquo;s status as one of the greatest British painters.
About the Author
Alex Kidson is special projects fellow, Paul Mellon Centre for Studies in British Art, and was curator of the 2002 bicentennial exhibition George Romney 1734andndash;1802.