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