Thomas Rowlandson (1756-1821)
Rowlandson was born in London, initially studying at Dr Barrow’s Academy in Soho Square, then the Royal Academy Schools. Aged sixteen, he moved to Paris and studied there for two years. On his return to London, he went back to the RA Schools.
Bryan’s Dictionary gives a vivid insight into Rowlandson’s character, ‘During this time [the late 1780s] his father, who was a city tradesman, became embarrassed from injudicious speculation, and young Rowlandson would have been without support but for the liberality of his aunt in Paris. This lady amply supplied him with money, and to this indulgence, perhaps, may be traced those careless habits which attended his early career, and for which he was remarkable through life. At her decease she left him seven thousand pounds, besides other valuable property. He then gave way to his bent towards dissipation. In Paris he had imbibed a love for gaming; and he now frequented the most fashionable playhouses in London, where he alternately won and lost without emotion, until he had dissipated more than one valuable legacy. It is said that he once sat uninterruptedly at the card-table for thirty-six hours. He has been known, after having lost all he had, to sit down coolly to his work, and exclaim, “I’ve played the fool, but (holding up his pencils) here is my resource.”’
He abandoned the production of large individual prints around 1815 in favour of book illustration. This aspect of his art was already well-established. In 1809, Rowlandson began producing illustrations for the satirical Dr Syntax’s Tour in Search of the Picturesque, for the publisher Rudolph Ackermann. The poem that accompanied the illustrations was written by William Coombe; the prints and poem were first published in 1812.
Collections
British Library, London
British Museum, London
Metropolitan Museum, New York
National Portrait Gallery, London
Royal Collection Trust
Tate Gallery, London
Victoria and Albert Museum, London
Literature
Gray, B (1937), The English Print, Adam and Charles Black
Heard, K (2013), High Spirits: The Comic Art of Thomas Rowlandson, Royal Collection Trust
Hind, A M (1963 reprint), A History of Engraving and Etching, Dover Publications
Mackenzie, I (1988), British Prints, Antique Collectors’ Club
Redgrave, S (1970 reprint), A Dictionary of Artists of the English School, Kingsmead Reprints
Turner, W J (1947), Aspects of British Art, Collins
Williamson, G C Ed. (1904), Bryan’s Dictionary of Painters and Engravers, George Bell and Sons
Rowlandson was born in London, initially studying at Dr Barrow’s Academy in Soho Square, then the Royal Academy Schools. Aged sixteen, he moved to Paris and studied there for two years. On his return to London, he went back to the RA Schools.
Bryan’s Dictionary gives a vivid insight into Rowlandson’s character, ‘During this time [the late 1780s] his father, who was a city tradesman, became embarrassed from injudicious speculation, and young Rowlandson would have been without support but for the liberality of his aunt in Paris. This lady amply supplied him with money, and to this indulgence, perhaps, may be traced those careless habits which attended his early career, and for which he was remarkable through life. At her decease she left him seven thousand pounds, besides other valuable property. He then gave way to his bent towards dissipation. In Paris he had imbibed a love for gaming; and he now frequented the most fashionable playhouses in London, where he alternately won and lost without emotion, until he had dissipated more than one valuable legacy. It is said that he once sat uninterruptedly at the card-table for thirty-six hours. He has been known, after having lost all he had, to sit down coolly to his work, and exclaim, “I’ve played the fool, but (holding up his pencils) here is my resource.”’
He abandoned the production of large individual prints around 1815 in favour of book illustration. This aspect of his art was already well-established. In 1809, Rowlandson began producing illustrations for the satirical Dr Syntax’s Tour in Search of the Picturesque, for the publisher Rudolph Ackermann. The poem that accompanied the illustrations was written by William Coombe; the prints and poem were first published in 1812.
Collections
British Library, London
British Museum, London
Metropolitan Museum, New York
National Portrait Gallery, London
Royal Collection Trust
Tate Gallery, London
Victoria and Albert Museum, London
Literature
Gray, B (1937), The English Print, Adam and Charles Black
Heard, K (2013), High Spirits: The Comic Art of Thomas Rowlandson, Royal Collection Trust
Hind, A M (1963 reprint), A History of Engraving and Etching, Dover Publications
Mackenzie, I (1988), British Prints, Antique Collectors’ Club
Redgrave, S (1970 reprint), A Dictionary of Artists of the English School, Kingsmead Reprints
Turner, W J (1947), Aspects of British Art, Collins
Williamson, G C Ed. (1904), Bryan’s Dictionary of Painters and Engravers, George Bell and Sons
You can view our selection of Rowlandson's engravings for The Tour of Dr Syntax in Search of the Picturesque here.