Robert Vernon
7 of 13 portraits by George Jones
- Overview
- Extended Catalogue Entry
© National Portrait Gallery, London
Robert Vernon
by George Jones, and Henry Collen
oil on panel, 1848
30 in. x 24 3/4 in. (762 mm x 629 mm)
Purchased, 1967
Primary Collection
NPG 4513
Artistsback to top
- Henry Collen (1798-1879), Painter, mezzotinter and photographer. Artist or producer associated with 9 portraits.
- George Jones (1786-1869), Painter and army officer. Artist or producer associated with 13 portraits, Sitter in 2 portraits.
Linked publicationsback to top
- Saywell, David; Simon, Jacob, Complete Illustrated Catalogue, 2004, p. 633
- Simon, Jacob, The Art of the Picture Frame: Artists, Patrons and the Framing of Portraits in Britain, 1997 (accompanying the exhibition at the National Portrait Gallery from 8 November 1996 - 9 February 1997), p. 115, 170 Read entry
Gilt compo on pine. 4 1⁄ 2 inches wide.
This portrait is the joint work of the miniaturist, Henry Collen, and the painter, George Jones, Keeper of the Royal Academy, who claimed to be Robert Vernon's chief adviser in forming his collection of modern British pictures, more than 150 of which he gave to the National Gallery in 1847. These are now mostly in the Tate Gallery. Constable, Turner, Wilkie, Etty and Mulready were among the artists Vernon patronised.1
1 See also Robin Hamlyn, Robert Vernon's Gift. British Art for the Nation 1847, exhibition catalogue, Tate Gallery, 1993.
- Walker, Richard, Regency Portraits, 1985, p. 517
Subjects & Themesback to top
Events of 1848back to top
Current affairs
Led by Feargus O'Connor, up to 50,000 Chartist members meet on Kennington Common, to form a procession and present another petition to Parliament. Although there was a large military and police presence, the rally was peaceful.Art and science
The Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood a group of English painters, poets and critics, is founded by John Everett Millais, Dante Gabriel Rossetti and William Holman Hunt, intent on reforming art by rejecting the artists who imitated Raphael and Michelangelo. Instead, they advocated a return to a close observation of nature, invested with the intense detail, colours, and compositions of Quattrocento Italian and Flemish art, producing works layered with symbolism.International
Following the fall of the French monarchy, revolutions take place in France, Germany and Italy, provoked by a widespread desire for political independence from repressive regimes, and a range of economic problems which had caused unemployment, food shortages and poverty. Louis Napoleon becomes the first President of France's Second Republic.The first gold rush takes place in America, after gold is found on the Sacramento river, California.
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