This collection of writings by specialists from many disciplines explores a wide range of topics relating to English painter George Romney (1734-1802). The contributors to the book address not only Romney's personality and artistic practice, but also aspects of the cultural context of his work, such as its relation to theater and its diffusion through prints. Key essays discuss the central themes of the artist's work, his rivalry with Sir Joshua Reynolds, and his painting technique. Alex Kidson offers in the introduction a survey of previous writings about Romney and their impact on the...

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 raisonne was published over 100 years ago. In more than 1,800 entries, many supported by new photography, Kidson aims to solve longstanding issues of...