George romney painter biography wikipedia

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The Romney Society. George Romney, who died in Kendal in was one of the most celebrated portrait painters of his time, along with Sir Joshua Reynolds and Thomas Gainsborough. He was born in Dalton-in-Furness in and after learning his craft of cabinet-making there and in Lancaster, he was apprenticed to the portrait painter Christopher Steele in In he broke his apprenticeship and set up on his own in a studio in Kendal.

Romney began to build up a reputation through his portraits of the local gentry, particularly the Wilsons of Dallam Tower and the Stricklands of Sizergh Castle. His future was necessarily in London, but there were family complications. He had married Mary Abbot, the daughter of his Kendal landlady, in and by he was the father of two children.

Eventually, in , Romney set off for London by himself and except for short visits, did not return until he was in his sixty-fifth year. The reputation that Romney achieved in London by his paintings, particularly of women in the higher ranks of society, is borne out by over a thousand canvasses in public and private collections throughout the world, including some distinguished examples in Abbot Hall.

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His whole career was in London, apart from two all-important years travelling, studying and sketching in Italy. His fame and his comparatively modest fees did not please Sir Joshua Reynolds, and Romney never submitted paintings to the new Royal Academy, of which Reynolds was President. Despite his success as a society painter, Romney was a very private man and we know little about his personal life or his opinions.

It is evident that he found painting the rich and famous constricting, though financially it was inescapable. In this kind of work there is an emotional and imaginative depth not found in the more accomplished society portraits. She appears in many of his portraits and allegorical paintings and also in some of his Shakespeare paintings.

He died on 15th November and was buried in Dalton. Self portrait.