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George Romney

Epithet: Artist (1734-1802)

Record type: Biographies

Biography: Prolific London portrait artist, George Romney, has links to the Isle of Man via his portrait from 1781 of Miss Christian Taubman. Taubman, a member of the influential 18th century Taubman family who lived at the nunnery mansion on the outskirts of Douglas, had her painting composed by Romney during one of her stays at the family’s London residence. The painting demonstrates the more cosmopolitan elements of Manx society life. She was 28 years old at the time of the sitting, which took place 10 years prior to her marriage to Colonel W. Cunningham.

Romney was an English painter (mainly of portraits) and draughtsman. He worked in the north of England (mainly in Kendal, but also in York) until 1762, when he settled in London. There he became the most successful portraitist of the day apart from Reynolds and Gainsborough. His posthumous reputation was once almost the equal of theirs, but later faded considerably.

Much of his work is now considered facile and repetitive compared with that of his two great contemporaries, and he was probably at his best with portraits of young people (like Taubman), when his delicate colour sense and graceful line were used to good effect. He painted many portraits of Emma Hart, the mistress of Lord Nelson and later known as Lady Hamilton, who represented his ‘feminine ideal’. As with many successful portraitists, his heart lay elsewhere, and he had aspirations to be a history painter.

Biography
Romney was born in Beckside, Lancashire as the third son of John Romney and Anne Simpson. He was sent to school at Dendron, then apprenticed to his father's business at the age of eleven. He trained in art informally from the age of fifteen, later taking on a formal art apprenticeship at the age of twenty-one. In 1756 he married Mary Abbot, entering into a largely unhappy marriage that would last their entire lives. He stayed in Lancashire and worked on his artistic talent until 1762, when he left his wife and child to pursue fortune in London until 1799.

In 1763, Romney submitted his painting "The Death of General Wolfe" to the Royal Society of Arts competition, earning second place price of 50 guineas which was later reduced to 25 guineas on questionable grounds. Despite his relative success in London, he was never asked to join the Royal Academy, nor ever applied to join, extolling his beliefs that an artist could succeed without being a member. 1769 proved to be a breakthrough year for him, as he displayed the portait of Sir George Warren with the Free Society of Artists which was greatly admired and laid the foundations for future success.

By 1772 Romney was financially stable enough to travel to Italy, gaining an audience with the Pope through connections who allowed him to study the frescoes of Raphael. He spent two years abroad studying art before returning to London and being saddled with debt, as well as taking on his financially desitute brother. However his fortunes changed permanently when he was taken in by the Duke of Richmond and asked for many commissions, while also meeting Emma Hamilton who he used as his muse in over 60 paintings. In the summer of 1799, health broken, he returned to his wife after 40 years, whereupon she nursed him for another two years until his death.

Occupation / profession: Artist

Gender: Male

Date of birth: 1734

Place of birth: Lancashire

Date of death: 1802

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