George Romney was born in 1734, in Dalton-in-Furness, Lancashire, to the family of an inventive and entrepreneurial carpenter, John Romney. George inherited much of his father’s creativity, and spent many of his younger years sketching and doodling in his school notebooks.
This came to the detriment of his grades, and his father took him away from school before the age of eleven so that he could focus on his more commendable traits. Romney set to work in his father’s workshop, where he quickly learned the tools of the trade. In his free time, however, he still preferred to practice painting, often copying pictures from various monthly magazines that were lent to him by his father’s employees. It wasn’t until he sketched a strikingly accurate portrait of one of the local villagers, at her request, that his father recognized George’s calling as an artist and, after some persuasion from both his friends and his son, apprenticed him to a traveling artist who was in the area.
While the artist, Steele, wasn’t a very good painter himself, he had received a good art education in Paris, and was able to teach Romney many of the basic and most crucial skills needed in the field. However, although the apprenticeship got off on a smooth start, Steele shortly thereafter eloped with one of his pupils, and Romney volunteered to help with the arrangements. The frequent nighttime efforts proved too much for the young apprentice and, shortly after Steele left the area, Romney fell ill with a fever, and was subsequently nursed back to health by a local nurse, Mary Abbot, whom he would marry after recovering from his illness in 1756. He had to leave her a short while later to continue his apprenticeship with Steele, now living in York. But Steele’s traveling lifestyle, negligent habits and near-chronic bankruptcy discouraged Romney, and he agreed to forgive Steele a debt of ten British pounds in exchange for terminating his apprenticeship.
He returned to his wife in Kendal, where he took up work as a painter. Beginning with drawing signboards, he soon made a reputation as a skilled portraitist, which attracted the wealthier clientele living in the area. In an attempt to turn his usual pastimes into...
c.1757. Oil on canvas. 810 x1245 mm. Private collection.
c. 1758-59. Oil on canvas. 1040 x 900 mm. Private collection.
c. 1759. Oil on canvas. 760 x 660 mm. Abbot Hall Art Gallery, Kendal, UK.
1768. Oil on canvas. 1860 x 2020 mm. National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne, Australia.
1768. Oil on canvas. 1860 x 2020 mm. National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne, Australia.
1768. Oil on canvas. 1860 x 2020 mm. National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne, Australia.
1768. Oil on canvas. 1860 x 2020 mm. National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne, Australia.
1769. Oil on canvas. 2415 x 18356 mm. Private collection.
1769. Oil on canvas. 2415 x 18356 mm. Private collection.
1769. Oil on canvas. 2415 x 18356 mm. Private collection.
c. 1770. Oil on canvas. 1810 x 1275 mm. Private collection.
. Oil on canvas. 1810 x 1275 mm. Private collection.
1773-74. Graphite on paper. 225 x 300 mm. Private collection.
1776. Oil on canvas. 1275 x 1020 mm. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, USA.
1776. Oil on canvas. 1275 x 1020 mm. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, USA.
1776-77. Oil on canbas., 2020 x 3220 mm. Abbot Hall Art Gallery, Kendal, UK.
. Oil on canbas., 2020 x 3220 mm. Abbot Hall Art Gallery, Kendal, UK.
1776-77. Oil on canbas. 2020 x 3220 mm. Abbot Hall Art Gallery, Kendal, UK.
1776-77. Oil on canbas. 2020 x 3220 mm. Abbot Hall Art Gallery, Kendal, UK.
1777. Oil on canvas. Private collection.
George Romney, 1734-1802 by Alex Kidson. Princeton University Press, 2002.
A Striking Likeness: The Life of George Romney by David A. Cross. Ashgate Pub Ltd, 2000.
Romney: Masterpieces in Colour by C. Lewis Hind. CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform, 2012.