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The Rev. William Atkinson, wearing a broad-brimmed hat

ca. 1760
Not on view
William Atkinson was a curate at Selside, a parish near Kendal in Cumbria where Romney lived between 1757 and 1762. Naturally talented, largely self-taught, and here near the start of his career, the artist would have been the portraitist of choice for gentry in that northern county. His paintings of that period favored broad effects, and the simple graphite strokes used here to describe the coat, with its wide old-fashioned collar and cuffs, are similar in character. More detail was used for the face and the right hand, which holds a walking stick. In a related oil painting, Romney showed Atkinson indoors without hat and cane, leaning on a pile of books.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: The Rev. William Atkinson, wearing a broad-brimmed hat
  • Artist: George Romney (British, Beckside, Lancashire 1734–1802 Kendal, Cumbria)
  • Sitter: The Reverend William Atkinson (British, 1724–1764)
  • Date: ca. 1760
  • Medium: Graphite
  • Dimensions: Sheet: 6 x 7 1/4 in. (15.2 x 18.4 cm)
  • Classification: Drawings
  • Credit Line: Purchase, Brooke Russell Astor Bequest, 2013
  • Object Number: 2013.99
  • Curatorial Department: Drawings and Prints

More Artwork

More Artwork
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Mourning Figures: possibly a copy after a fresco by Cimabue, George Romney British, Pen and brown ink over traces of black chalk
Mourning Figures: possibly a copy after a fresco by Cimabue
George Romney
Giovanni Cimabue
ca. 1773–75
Study of two figures: one seated, the other standing (recto). Study of a head looking upwards (verso), George Romney British, Graphite with traces of pen and brown ink at upper right
Study of two figures: one seated, the other standing (recto). Study of a head looking upwards (verso)
George Romney
ca. 1777
John Howard Visiting a Lazaretto (recto); Titania and Her Fairies (verso), George Romney British, Pen and black ink, brush and gray wash, over graphite
John Howard Visiting a Lazaretto (recto); Titania and Her Fairies (verso)
George Romney
John Howard
ca. 1790–92
Emma Hamilton
George Romney
ca. 1900
Half-Figure of a Young Woman, George Romney British, Pen and brush and brown ink
Half-Figure of a Young Woman
George Romney
1782–86

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