Artist of the week
Satin, silk and gold braid
George Romney
George Romney, a British portrait painter of the late 1700s. Lady Elizabeth Stanley sits under dark trees in white satin with a pink sash, her chin on her hand. Mrs. Charles Frederick wears rust-orange silk and a striped scarf wound through her piled hair, her arms folded on a ledge. Then a young woman in a cream wrap looking away, Admiral Ogle in gold braid, a man in a powdered wig against a cloudy sky, and Romney himself in 1795, white-haired, looking back over his shoulder.
As a puzzle
Start from the faces and the cloth just below them: the rust-orange silk and its white sleeves, the cream wrap over a peach bodice, the gold braid on the admiral’s white waistcoat. Most grounds are smooth dark brown, and in the self-portrait Romney’s black coat nearly melts into the dark behind him, so leave them for last. Lady Elizabeth Stanley, with trees, sky and creased white satin, takes a moderate count; keep the others low.
A good size here: 40–150 pieces.
Also filed under British Painting
Subjects here: Portraits
6 pictures, pick one to build
