Wednesday, May 14, 2014

George Morland, Dissipated Genre Painter

Yes, he was dissipated, throwing away an otherwise successful career through lack of financial and personal self-control. That was George Morland (1763-1804). What I find interesting is that he was a prolific painter of mostly countryside genre scenes that had little to do with his wild, largely urban life. An extensive Wikipedia biography is here.

I don't find Morland's works very interesting from an artistic standpoint. On the other hand, they can be useful documentation of aspects of late 18th century English life. Let's take a look.

Gallery

Coast Scene -1792

Winter Landscape

Herdsman with Cattle Crossing Bridge

Cowherd and Milkmaid - 1792

Pigs in a Sty
Morland painted many pigsty pictures.

Lovers Observed

Easy Money

The Public House Door - 1792

The Fortune Teller

The Artist in His Studio and His Man Gibbs - 1802
No fancy studio here, for Morland was trying to avoid his creditors after leaving debtor's prison.

1 comment:

Hels said...

Imagine that!... an artist who drank, womanised or couldn't maintain his income adequately. I have never heard of that before.

However you couldn't tell from these paintings. Many of his themes were quite conservative and traditional, and do indeed provide useful documentation of late C18th English life.