GEORGE ROMNEY
Dalton 1734 – 1802 Kendal
Portrait of a Young Woman in Powder Blue
Circa 1777
Oil on canvas
29 x 24 ½ ins. (73.7 x 62.2 cm.)
Provenance
Galerie Sedelmeyer, Paris;
John Wanamaker Collection, Philadelphia, by 1904;
Private collection, USA.
Literature
Catalogue of the Collection of John Wanamaker of Philadelphia, cat. No. 215, ‘George Romney, Portrait of a Young Lady, 29 x 24 ½’ (Lindhurst Galleries, Philadelphia, 1904).
We are grateful to Alex Kidson and Dr Brian Allen for confirming the attribution to Romney upon first hand inspection, and following its recent cleaning and conservation. The painting will be included in Alex Kidson’s forthcoming Catalogue Raisonné of the works of George Romney.
This exceptionally well preserved and beautiful painting is amongst Romney’s most striking and engaging portraits. The directness of the young woman’s gaze is heightened by the gesture of her playing with her ear – a gesture which adds to the sense of flirtation and engagement with the artist, and with us. Romney’s marriage was well known to be unhappy, and his attraction to this beautiful woman is palpable.
Dated by Alex Kidson to circa 1777, shortly after the artist’s return from Rome, Romney’s brushwork is crisp and free, painted with his characteristically fine sense of colour. Stylistically it compares closely with Romney’s portrait of Mrs John Birch, preserved in the Phoenix Art Museum, also dated to the late 1770’s.
A note on the provenance.
John Wanamaker (1838 –1922) was a highly influential retailer who pioneered the concept of the department store, and is considered by some to be the father of modern advertising. Wannamaker built a large and important collection of Old Masters, notable in particular for its British portraits, many of which (such as the present painting) were purchased from the great Parisian dealer, Charles Sedelmeyer. In 1904, a lavishly illustrated catalogue of the collection was published, in which the present painting is included.
BIOGRAPHY OF GEORGE ROMNEY
George Romney ranks with Reynolds and Gainsborough as one of the finest society portrait painters of the eighteenth century. The son of a cabinetmaker, he was apprenticed first to his father and then in 1755 to the itinerant portrait painter Christopher Steele. In 1757 Romney set up a portrait practice in Kendal. In 1762 Romney left his wife and family in Kendal and moved to London to seek his fortune.
In 1773, Romney went to Rome to study Italian art, notably the work of Michelangelo and Raphael. Romney returned to England in 1775 and took a lease on Francis Cotes’ grand house at 24 Cavendish Square, where he quickly re-established his portrait practice. He developed an infatuation of sorts with Emma Hamilton (then Emma Hart), whom he portrayed on numerous occasions, often in an allegorical or classical guise.
Romney excelled at painting beautiful and glamorous society women, their elegant poses informed by his study of Italian art. Romney also craved success as a history painter, but the demand for such works paled in comparison with his portrait practice.
In 1798 Romney moved to a new studio in Hampstead, but soon after suffered a series of strokes. The following year he moved back to his long-neglected wife in Kendal where he remained for the rest of his life.
Romney’s work is represented in numerous museums, including the National Portrait Gallery (London), the Tate Gallery, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Boston Museum of Fine Arts, and the Huntington Art Gallery.