A Life Class at the Royal Academy, Somerset House, London

Location

Country: UK
City: London
Place: Government Art Collection

Thomas Rowlandson was born in London, the son of a bankrupt wool and silk merchant. He studied at the Royal Academy Schools, making a trip to Paris during his time there, and won the silver medal in 1777. During the next two decades he made several continental tours, visiting France, Italy, Germany and Holland, as well as travelling extensively in England and Wales. He exhibited from 1775 to 1787 and, in 1789, received a legacy from an aunt, which he is said to have gambled away. From 1798, much of his work was for Rudolf Ackermann, most notably his illustrations for the three Tours of Dr Syntax (published 1812, 1820, and 1821) and The Microcosm of London (1808–10). He revisited France in 1814 and Italy in about 1820. Rowland continued to work almost until the end of his life. He is most famous as a caricaturist, but his work also included figure studies, portraits, marine subjects and landscapes.

Places

England, London, Somerset House

Subjects

Materials & Techniques

etching

Artist

Thomas Rowlandson (1756 - 1827)

Title

A Life Class at the Royal Academy, Somerset House, London

Date

1811

Medium

Etching

Acquisition

Transferred from HM Revenue and Customs, 2017

Provenance

Bequest of Sir Ernest Clark to the Inland Revenue, 1951 (received 1972); transferred to GAC 2017

GAC number

15585