“Samuel Palmer” by George Richmond, RA (1809-1896)

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Samuel Palmer (1805-1881)

George Richmond, RA (1809-1896)

1829

Watercolour and bodycolour on ivory

3 1/4 in. x 2 3/4 in. (83 mm x 70 mm)

National Portrait Gallery, London

George Richmond was the fifth child of the miniaturist painter Thomas Richmond (1771-1837), himself the great-grandson of the more famous miniaturist George Engleheart (1750-1829), who also worked mainly in watercolour on ivory. [Commentary continues below. Click on the picture to enlarge it.]

It is hardly surprising, then, that many of this Victorian artist's early works were miniatures. Indeed, when Richmond visited France from 1826 to 1829, he supported himself by painting miniatures (Lister).

This particular miniature is an idealised portrait of a close friend, by a slightly younger man who admired him and shared his piety and artistic aspirations as the central figure of the "Ancients" who were inspired by William Blake. The miniature has been seen as "the most intensely British form of art" (Lambourne 66), and this is a fine example of its delicacy and poetic appeal, also (for this was the art of the keepsake) its traditional tendency to flatter. — Jacqueline Banerjee.

Related Material

Richmond's chalk drawing of Samuel Palmer

Source

Lambourne, Lionel. Victorian Painting. London and New York: Phaidon, 1999.

Lister, Raymond. "Richmond, George (1809–1896), portrait painter." Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. Online ed. Web. 27 February 2016.

Created 28 February 2016