Thomas Rowlandson, aged 70
Original title: Thomas Rowlandson, aged 70
kurzbeschreibung
John Thomas Smith drew his fellow artist Thomas Rowlandson at the age of seventy, pen in hand and caught mid-sentence. Made in 1824 with pen, brush and ink, the sheet now belongs to the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
Description
Rowlandson sits easy in his chair yet entirely absorbed, guiding his pen across a sheet of paper. Spectacles, neckcloth and a shirt beneath his jacket all read clearly. The dark, blurred ground pushes everything else back so the eye stays on the sitter. Black and white dominate, with a quiet grey between them; the strokes are thin and surely laid. Along the lower edge run a signature and a note in Smith's own hand.
Context
John Thomas Smith, known as 'Antiquity' Smith, worked as an English artist and author. By his own note the portrait was made on 15 June 1824 in the portrait room of the Portrait Museum. Rowlandson was then regarded as an accomplished caricaturist and graphic artist; drawn a year before his death, the sheet records how he looked in old age.
Impact
The aged artist's quiet moment of work meets the viewer with closeness and respect. Firmly placed lines and restrained colour give the portrait something precisely observant and, at the same time, sympathetic.
Technique
Pen, brush and ink were used on paper. Fine contours and washed passages build spatial depth. The grey gradations come from diluting the ink with water, which allows a soft shading.
AI-generated description text
Source: Metropolitan Museum of Art · Public Domain (CC0 1.0)