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Rowlandson, Thomas
Rowlandson, Thomas (1756/7–1827). English caricaturist. Rowlandson ranks with James Gillray as one of the founders and supreme figures of the English caricature tradition. However, whilst Gillray was a political satirist, Rowlandson excelled in comic subjects and his work is essentially jolly rather than abrasive. He trained at the Royal Academy, 1772–7, and began his career 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 he gave his career over to it completely. His talent for exuberant and flowing line had affinities with the French Rococo style (Rowlandson had a French aunt and visited Paris during his student years), but his rollicking humour and delicate tonal effects were distinctively English; the marvel of his art is that there is no inconsistency between the bawdiness or boisterousness of the subject matter and the beauty of his technique. Usually he made his caricatures in ink tinted with watercolour, and engravings were produced from them by specialist printmakers. He 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. From 1797 much of his work was produced for Rudolph Ackermann (1764–1834), a major publisher of prints. He issued several collections of Rowlandson's work in book form, including The Comforts of Bath (1798) and three featuring Dr Syntax (1812–22), a grotesque and pedantic old schoolmaster. Rowlandson's output was huge, but it was only towards the end of his career that the quality of his work suffered because of overproduction.
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IAN CHILVERS. "Rowlandson, Thomas." The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Art and Artists. 2003. Encyclopedia.com. 27 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. IAN CHILVERS. "Rowlandson, Thomas." The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Art and Artists. 2003. Encyclopedia.com. (May 27, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O3-RowlandsonThomas.html IAN CHILVERS. "Rowlandson, Thomas." The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Art and Artists. 2003. Retrieved May 27, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O3-RowlandsonThomas.html |
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Rowlandson, Thomas
Rowlandson, Thomas (1756/7–1827). Artist. Social commentator rather than caricaturist, sardonic rather than angry, Rowlandson's eye for life's comedies and absurdities led him to favour types rather than individuals, burlesque rather than biting satire. A Royal Academy student and fascinated by physiognomy, his prodigious output of pen-drawings, water-colours, and prints, demonstrating mastery of line and billowing rococo shapes, were so full of gusto that he has been seen as a personification of his age. If inclined to the characteristic excesses of the period (hard drinking, gambling, promiscuity), his view of the world depicted its manners, vices, politics, and incidents, but without censoriousness. A friend of Gillray, he worked for the publisher Ackermann, creating ‘Dr Syntax’, but technique and vision suffered after 1800 in consequence of his productivity, and he founded no school.
A. S. Hargreaves |
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Cite this article
JOHN CANNON. "Rowlandson, Thomas." The Oxford Companion to British History. 2002. Encyclopedia.com. 27 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. JOHN CANNON. "Rowlandson, Thomas." The Oxford Companion to British History. 2002. Encyclopedia.com. (May 27, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O110-RowlandsonThomas.html JOHN CANNON. "Rowlandson, Thomas." The Oxford Companion to British History. 2002. Retrieved May 27, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O110-RowlandsonThomas.html |
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Rowlandson, Thomas
Rowlandson, Thomas (1756/7–1827). Artist. Social commentator rather than caricaturist, Rowlandson's eye for life's comedies led him to favour types rather than individuals. A Royal Academy student, his prodigious output of pen‐drawings, water‐colours, and prints were so full of gusto that he has been seen as a personification of his age. A friend of Gillray, he worked for the publisher Ackermann, creating ‘Dr Syntax’, but technique and vision suffered after 1800 in consequence of his productivity.
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Cite this article
JOHN CANNON. "Rowlandson, Thomas." A Dictionary of British History. 2004. Encyclopedia.com. 27 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. JOHN CANNON. "Rowlandson, Thomas." A Dictionary of British History. 2004. Encyclopedia.com. (May 27, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O43-RowlandsonThomas.html JOHN CANNON. "Rowlandson, Thomas." A Dictionary of British History. 2004. Retrieved May 27, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O43-RowlandsonThomas.html |
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Rowlandson, Thomas
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Cite this article
MARGARET DRABBLE and JENNY STRINGER. "Rowlandson, Thomas." The Concise Oxford Companion to English Literature. 2003. Encyclopedia.com. 27 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. MARGARET DRABBLE and JENNY STRINGER. "Rowlandson, Thomas." The Concise Oxford Companion to English Literature. 2003. Encyclopedia.com. (May 27, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O54-RowlandsonThomas.html MARGARET DRABBLE and JENNY STRINGER. "Rowlandson, Thomas." The Concise Oxford Companion to English Literature. 2003. Retrieved May 27, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O54-RowlandsonThomas.html |
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