Reconsidering Romney

Two hundred years after his death, George Romney (1734-1802) offers a fascinating case study of the vicissitudes of fame and reputation, the impact of the art market and collecting on the art-historical canon, changing ideas about artistic creativity and practice, and the particular interpretive problems posed by society portraiture. Long relegated to the margins of late eighteenth-century art, Romney has recently reemerged as a multifaceted artistic personality whose innovative paintings and drawings encapsulate the complexities of Enlightenment thought and straddle the line between Neoclassicism and Romanticism. The exhibition George Romney 1734-1802: British Art's Forgotten Genius, organized to mark the bicentenary of Romney's death, provides a useful springboard for reevaluating Romney's artistic career and critical reputation.