- Hardcover: 256 pages
- Publisher: Princeton University Press; 1st Edition edition (19 Feb 2002)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0691095590
- ISBN-13: 978-0691095592
- Product Dimensions: 28.9 x 24.9 x 2.8 cm
- Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (1 customer review)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 1,476,240 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- See Complete Table of Contents
| ||||||||||||||||||
Did you know you can trade in your old books for an Amazon.co.uk Gift Card to spend on the things you want? Plus, get an extra £5 Gift Certificate when you trade in books worth £10 or more before June 30, 2012. Visit the Books Trade-In Store for more details. |
Product details |
More About the Author
Product Description
Review
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
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
Product 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
Tag this product(What's this?)Think of a tag as a keyword or label you consider is strongly related to this product.
Tags will help all customers organise and find favourite items. |
Sell a Digital Version of This Book in the Kindle Store
If you are a publisher or author and hold the digital rights to a book, you can sell a digital version of it in our Kindle Store.
Learn more
What Other Items Do Customers Buy After Viewing This Item?
Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
The exhibition of some of the works of George Romney is quite in line with the currently popularity of portraits, following the success of the recent exhibitions of John Singer Sargent and Restoration Portraiture. This catalogue shows all the works in the exhibition including some not on show at all the venues. The book shows well the progression of a local northern artist into a national one through such works as the Leveson-Gower Children and the Warren Family. As well as some earlier works, which show homage to Thomas Hudson (Mrs Strickland), the exhibition and the guide show how close he was in style to Sir Joshua Reynolds (Mrs Yates as the Tragic Muse). This book is a great introduction to a great artist, until recently only available to visitors to country houses.
Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
Amazon.com:
1 review
Flawed Account of a Great Painter and His Work
13 Mar 2012
Format: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.
Was this review helpful?
Let us know
Listmania!
Look for similar items by category
Look for similar items by subject
Feedback
- Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
- I am the Author, and I want to comment on my book.
- I am the Publisher, and I want to comment on this book.
