George
Romney (26th December 1734 to 15th November 1802)
In the eighteen century the most fashionable portrait
painter was George Romney. He was on the level with Sir Joshua Reynolds and
Thomas Gainsborough. While exploring the Lake District I drove out to
Dalton-In-Furness to find his grave. It’s immediately behind the church; you
can’t miss it as it’s set away from all the others. George is Dalton-In-Furness’s
bit of fame; in his era anyone of fame or noteworthiness was captured by his
brushstrokes.
He
was born in this area, the third son of eleven children and then raised in a
cottage. He was apprenticed to cabinet-making under his dad. He started drawing
and painting when he was fifteen when a local watchmaker taught him how to
draw. He was a gifted sketcher and aged 21 left for Kendal on a four-year art
course. Aged 22 he married Mary Abbot and they had a son and a daughter but
aged 28 he left them to seek his fortune in London. Success flooded in though
for some reason he never joined the Royal Academy of Arts, losing valuable
patronage from the royals. He didn’t care: he said talent overarched everything
else. Though he was talented and painted famous people of the time he remained
poor.
Despite
being in debt he travelled and lived in Paris and Italy to study the old
masters. Returning to London the Duke of Richmond improved his fortunes by
offering commissions. He painted lots of the duke’s friends and acquaintances.
He was especially adroit at painting women and now there are over a thousand
canvasses in public and private collections across the world.
There
was no romantic interest and he sometimes travelled back to the Lake District
to see his wife Mary. He became obsessed with a lady called Emma Hart and
painted her about sixty times (she would become Lady Hamilton and then Nelson’s
mistress.) Aged 65 his health suddenly worsened and he knew the end wasn’t far
away. Oddly he returned to his wife Mary in the Lake District after nearly four
decades of living apart. For two years she nursed him to his death.
He
left the world with 2000 paintings and 5000 drawings. I’ve seen some in art
galleries but they’re too dreamy for my liking.
I’ve never see headstones arranged
so orderly before…
