Tuesday, June 12, 2018

Thomas Rowlandson - Drawings and Watercolors at the Met

Thomas Rowlandson
Herd of Deer under an Oak Tree
before 1827
drawing
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York

Thomas Rowlandson
Downlands, Sussex
before 1827
watercolor
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York

attributed to Thomas Rowlandson
Wooded Landscape with Ruins
before 1827
drawing
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York

Thomas Rowlandson
Landscape with rushing stream and a couple on the bank frightened by a snake
before 1827
watercolor
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York

"It was said that the amount of copper Thomas Rowlandson etched would sheathe the British Navy – [it was also said that he produced enough work over the course of his career to paper the walls of China].  An inveterate gambler, for much of his life Rowlandson had to produce a flood of his comic prints to stay ahead of financial losses.  A wealthy uncle and aunt raised Rowlandson after his textile-merchant father went bankrupt.  His career developed quickly.  He entered London's Royal Academy Schools in 1772, visited Paris in 1774, exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1775, and won a silver medal in 1777.  He left school in 1778 to set up in business.  Rowlandson's depictions of Georgian England exposed human foibles and vanity with sympathy and rollicking humor.  During the 1780s he consolidated the delicate style he used for his coarse subjects.  He worked mainly in ink and watercolor, his rhythmic compositions, flowing line, and relaxed elegance inspired by French Rococo art.  In 1789, at the height of critical and popular success, Rowlandson's aunt died, leaving him a large sum.  He ran through the money quickly, traveling across Europe and gambling: by 1793 he was impoverished.  His fortunes changed in 1797, when he began working for fine-art publisher Rudolph Ackermann, who published most of Rowlandson's finest work for twenty years."   

– curator's notes from the Getty Museum

Thomas Rowlandson
Hilly Landscape with Rocks
before 1827
drawing
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York

Thomas Rowlandson
The Inn at the Ford
before 1827
watercolor
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York

Thomas Rowlandson
Wooded Hillside with Deer
before 1827
drawing
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York

attributed to Thomas Rowlandson
Easterly Winds
ca, 1810
watercolor
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York

Thomas Rowlandson
A Gaming Table at Devonshire House
(portrait of Georgiana, Duchess of Devonshire raising dice cup)
1791
watercolor
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York

Thomas Rowlandson
Copy after antique statue group in the Uffizi called the Ludovisi Gaul,
also known as Paetus and Arria
before 1827
watercolor
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York

Thomas Rowlandson
Nude Couple Embracing
before 1827
watercolor
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York

Thomas Rowlandson
Nude Couple Embracing
before 1827
watercolor
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York

Thomas Rowlandson
Venus, Anchises, and Cupid
before 1827
watercolor
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York

John Thomas 'Antiquity' Smith
Portrait of Thomas Rowlandson, aged 70
1824
drawing
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York