Thomas Rowlandson Paintings

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Thomas Rowlandson Biography

English Illustration artist
born 1756 - died 1827

English caricaturist, whose pre-eminence in social satire matched that of Gillray in political satire. Thomas Rowlandson began as a painter, mainly of portraits, but he turned to caricature to supplement his income (he was a notorious gambler), and finding his sideline highly successful Thomas Rowlandson artist gave his career over to it completely.

His talent for exuberant and flowing line had affinities with the French Rococo of Fragonard (Rowlandson had studied in France), but his rollicking humor and delicate tonal effects were distinctively English; the marvel of Thomas Rowlandson prints is that there is no inconsistency between the bawdiness or boisterousness of the subject-matter and the beauty of his watercolor technique. Thomas Rowlandson created an instantly recognizable gallery of social types, such as the old maid, the hack writer and the crabbed antiquarian, and his buxom wenches have their descendants in the fat ladies of today's saucy seaside postcards. His repertory of themes was inexhaustible and his oeuvre has been termed the English equivalent of Balzac's Comédie humaine.

He was a friend of George Morland and traveled about England and also in France, Germany, and the Low Countries making rapid and brilliantly illuminating sketches of country life. In addition Thomas Rowlandson painter produced series of illustrative drawings for publishers, notably The Comforts of Bath (1798) and the series on The Tours of Dr Syntax (1812-20). His output was huge, but it was only towards the end of his career that the quality of Thomas Rowlandson painting suffered because of overproduction.

Although Thomas Rowlandson is commonly thought of as a satirist, most of his drawings are gently humorous, and in some cases objective, records of urban and rustic life.

With the exception of a small number of topographical drawings, they are characterized by an abundance of picaresque incidents, whether robust or sentimental, and have much in common with the novels of Laurence Sterne and Henry Fielding, which Rowlandson illustrated in 1808 and 1809.

He studied at the Royal Academy and in Paris, but his passion for gambling prevented him from producing much until c.1782, when Thomas Rowlandson painter was obliged to earn a living. As a humorous caricaturist and critical commentator of the social scene, he quickly gained celebrity. Thomas Rowlandson drawing Vauxhall Gardens (1784) was a great success, as was his series of drawings The Comforts of Bath that was reproduced in 1789. This was followed by the famous Tour of Dr. Syntax (series in 3 vol., 1812–21), Dance of Death (1814–16), and Dance of Life (1822)—all with text by William Combe. Rowlandson also illustrated Smollett, Goldsmith, Sterne, and Swift. Most of his drawings were first done in ink with a reed pen and given a delicate wash of color. The fluidity of his line is likened to the French rococo, but the spirited humor of Thomas Rowlandson painting, sometimes almost coarse, is in the English style.