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George Romney, 1734-1802
 
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George Romney, 1734-1802 [Hardcover]

Alex Kidson


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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

Book Description

This handsome catalogue, which accompanies a major international exhibition commemorating the bicentennial of George Romney's death, offers the first in-depth modern overview of a key figure in eighteenth-century British art. Romney was the main rival of Sir Joshua Reynolds and Thomas Gainsborough--and for much of his career more fashionable than either. A century ago, collectors fought to buy the portraits he created with a distinctive mix of elegance, mannerism, and informality; especially popular were those of Emma Hart (later the notorious Lady Hamilton), who became his favorite model and muse. Romney's chief ambition, however, was to succeed as a history painter, and he made countless drawings for literary and mythological pictures that he never had time to paint. These drawings, executed with a spontaneity and dramatic expressiveness that have appealed to many modern artists, mark Romney as one of the first Romantics.

Reproducing over two hundred works, this is the most generously illustrated volume on Romney to date. In a major departure from earlier treatments, the book devotes equal attention to his drawings and his paintings, persuasively demonstrating how interdependent the two media were in his art. Alex Kidson has written an invitingly personal, intriguingly speculative text, in which Romney emerges as one of the most brilliant and inventive artists of his time. From now on, any serious consideration of his work must begin with this book.

EXHIBITION SCHEDULE

The Walker Art Gallery, Liverpool

February 8, 2002-April 21, 2002

The National Portrait Gallery, London

May 30, 2002-August 18, 2002

The Huntington Art Gallery, San Marino, California

September 15, 2002-December 1, 2002


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Amazon.com: 4.0 out of 5 stars (1 customer review)

4.0 out of 5 stars Flawed Account of a Great Painter and His Work, Mar 13 2012
By Craig Banholzer "Interested Bystander" - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: George Romney, 1734-1802 (Hardcover)
George Romney was a provincial painter from the North of England who, moving to London, went on to become one of the foremost exemplars of the Grand Manner in portraiture. Unfortunately, this otherwise excellent account of his life and work is flawed by the author's unwillingness to appreciate Romney's art on the artist's own terms. In the introductory essay, Mr.Kidson delves into issues of "academic" versus "modern" that seem to belong to the field of French art of a much later time period, rather than to the place and times in which Romney himself was actually working. In his entries accompanying the (very beautiful) color plates, he seems more appreciative of the homely, over-detailed style of Romney's early years, than of the poetic and painterly style Romney later developed. I think that Romney, whose "fancy portraits" of the actress and artist's model Emma Hart are some of the most moving and delightful portraits even painted, deserves better than this. Nonetheless, the wealth of biographical information, and the many many color reproductions, make ths attractively produced book worth having.
 Go to Amazon.com to see the review  4.0 out of 5 stars 

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