Background
Thomas Rowlandson was born in Old Jewry, London, in July 1756, the son of a tradesman or city merchant.
Thomas Rowlandson was born in Old Jewry, London, in July 1756, the son of a tradesman or city merchant.
On leaving school he became a student in the Royal Academy.
At the age of sixteen he resided and studied for a time in Paris, through the aid of a wealthy aunt and he afterwards made frequent tours on the Continent, enriching his portfolios with numerous jottings of life and character.
In 1775 he exhibited at the Royal Academy a drawing of "Delilah visiting Samson in Prison, " and in the following years he was represented by various portraits and landscapes.
Although his name was once a household word, little of his life was recorded.
He traveled extensively in England and on the Continent, coming to know well the life of tavern and gambling-room portrayed in his work.
His delicately colored drawings were made with a reed-pen.
He developed a curvilinear style that emphasized rotundity of form and reflected a penetrating insight into character.
He also made excellent landscape and genre watercolors.
His etchings were sketched in outline; aquatint and hand-coloring were added by others.
In his best work, Rowlandson is one of the great caricaturists.
Among his finest works are the etchings for The Comforts of Bath (1798); The Microcosm of London (1808, in collaboration with Pugin); Tour of Dr. Syntax in Search of the Picturesque (1812); and The English Dance of Death (1815 - 1816).
Drawings by Rowlandson are in the British Museum, Victoria and Albert Museum, Metropolitan Museum, and other galleries.
