Rienzi is the house museum and collection of European paintings and decorative arts at the MFAH. Our articles highlight elements of the collection, discuss additions and changes to the house or gardens, and review events held at Rienzi for those of you not able to be here in person. Feel free to e-mail rienziblog@mfah.org with questions, comments, and suggestions. Welcome!
Posts Tagged portrait, page 1
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16 OctTue / 2012
The volume of paintings produced by George Romney in the mid-1770s through the mid-1790s, for the most prestigious members of society, surpassed any other painter at the time. Although he was a competitor of artists like Sir Joshua Reynolds and Thomas Gainsborough, Romney charged significantly less for a portrait sitting than his Royal Academy counterparts. Also, by making himself accessible to an emerging moneyed class and avoiding lofty political associations, Romney catered...
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15 OctMon / 2012
George Romney was born in 1734 in Dalton-in-Furness, a small town near the scenic Lake District in the northwestern part of England. He was one of 11 children born to Anne Romney and her furniture-maker husband, John. At the age of 10, George was removed from school to apprentice to his father. Although he would later teach himself the history, drama, poetry, and classical literature considered necessary as artistic sources, his technical training as...
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08 OctMon / 2012
George Romney rose from provincial obscurity to become one of the most fashionable portrait painters in 18th-century London. The story of his remarkable rise to fame is a tale that illuminates the debates, concerns, and hopes of artists during a period of momentous change in the British art world. This Sunday, Rienzi opens its fall exhibition, "Visions of Fancy" . . .
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20 JulFri / 2012
In the galleries of the Treasures of Kenwood House exhibition, where carefully poised ladies and gallantly aloof gentlemen are an expression of 18th-century sophistication, one painting stands apart: Two Girls Dressing a Kitten by Candlelight by Joseph Wright of Derby. Extraordinary in both . . .
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15 DecThu / 2011
This past Tuesday, Christie’s New York auction house held a sale of Elizabeth Taylor’s jewelry, 80 pieces totaling a whopping $116 million. At the top of that list, was a necklace featuring one of the most celebrated pearls known in the world – La Peregrina.
The pearl is familiar in Rienzi’s gallery, where it is prominently depicted in a full-length portrait of Margaret of Austria, Queen of Spain from 1605. The jewel made its way to...
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