George Romney
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A Complete Catalogue of His Paintings
Alex Kidson
This magnificent catalogue, in three volumes and with nearly 2,000 illustrations, will restore George Romney (1734–1802) to his long-overdue position – with his contemporaries Reynolds and Gainsborough – as a master of 18th-century British portrait painting. The product of impressive and thorough research undertaken over the course of 20 years, Alex Kidson asserts Romney’s status as one of the greatest British painters, whose last catalogue raisonné was published over 100 years ago. In more than 1,800 entries, many supported by new photography, Kidson aims to solve longstanding issues of attribution, distinguishing genuine pictures by Romney from works whose traditional attribution to him can no longer be supported. The author’s insights are guided by rich primary source material on Romney—including account books, ledgers, and sketchbooks—as well as secondary sources such as prints after lost works, newspaper reports and reviews, and writings by Romney’s contemporaries.
Published for the Paul Mellon Centre for Studies in British Art
Alex Kidson is special projects fellow, Paul Mellon Centre for Studies in British Art, and was curator of the 2002 bicentennial exhibition George Romney 1734–1802.
“In three beautifully produced volumes, Alex Kidson has provided catalogue entries for George Romney’s very considerable oeuvre of 1719 portraits . . . George Romney is a thorough catalogue that has the great advantage of being written from the considered perspective of an overview and sets high standards for future works.”—Hugh Belsey, Art Newspaper
“Alex Kidson’s catalogue has many virtues: It corrects erroneous, and reveals hitherto unknown, attributions; it chronicles how commissions were carried out; and it meticulously trawls account books, ledgers, sketchbooks, newspaper reports, reviews, and the writings of Romney’s contemporaries to supply the contemporary background for an oeuvre that spans nearly 2,000 portraits. But it also shows how Romney [brought] an altogether new inventiveness and élan to portraiture.”—Edward Short, Weekly Standard
“There is no doubting Kidson’s heroic achievement in producing this catalogue, which has been designed and edited to an exceptionally high standard… By his meticulous research and with his fair-minded assessments Kidson has clearly placed Romney back on his pedestal in the pantheon of great British artists of the eighteenth century.”—Stephen Lloyd, Burlington
ISBN: 9780300209693
Publication Date: September 11, 2015
Publishing Partner: Published for the Paul Mellon Centre for Studies in British Art
Publication Date: September 11, 2015
Publishing Partner: Published for the Paul Mellon Centre for Studies in British Art
960 pages, 10 x 12
350 color + 1600 b/w illus.
350 color + 1600 b/w illus.