Figure 1.--Granville, 2nd Earl Gower, 1st Marquis of Stafford, had three wives. His third wife, Lady Suzanna Stewart, by whom he had four children. Three daughters and a son. They are depicted in a painting by George Romney dated 1777. Note the classical robes and poses. We are not sure who is who. The boy was the third child. By height this would make him the child in the red dress with his back facing us. But hemay be the child to the right facing forward. Click on the image for additional information.

Romney quickly established himself as a gifted portraitist in London. He won favor among wealthy society patrons. His success depended in part on his willingness to flatter his clients in the likenesses. He did many wonderful portrairs, leaving us an invaluable record of London society in the 1760s and 70s which added to his earlier work in the north. Art critics in assessing Romney's style comment that he avoided any attempt at painting in character assessments. Line, rather than colour, dominates his work, and the flowing rhythms and easy poses of Roman Classical sculpture underlie the smooth patterns of his compositions. He desired to expand his body of wotk by painting historical works. He was awarded a prize by the Free Society for his ‘The Death of General Wolfe’ (1763). He was never very successful with his historical work. It is not clear if his talent was lacking. It is more likely that he did not devote sufficient effort because of his growing obsession with Emma Hart. Assessments of Romney have varied. Romney's place in British art declined in the 19th century. Modern critics generally rank him along with Reynolds and Gainsborough as the greats of late-18th century British portraiture. [Watson]

Sources

Watson (1985).

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Created: 10:45 PM 12/8/2006
Last updated: 11:13 PM 1/30/2011