THOMAS ROWLANDSON

(English, 1756-1827)

ACTRESSES' DRESSING ROOM AT DRURY LANE

India Ink and Wash on Paper

8 ½  x 6 ½  

Signed Lower Right

Rowlandson entered the School of the Royal Academy in London in 1772 and was admitted as a full member in 1775. An accomplished draftsman, he frequently turned his skills to social satire, lampooning all levels of society. In this intimate and carefully composed watercolor, he turns his attention to the bohemian world of acting to give a humorous behind-the-scenes view of a theatrical dressing-room in eighteenth-century London.     

Reference:

Benezit, Dictionnaire des Peintres, Sculpteurs, Dessinateurs, et Graveurs, Vol. 12, p. 53-55; Davenport’s Art Reference Guide, 2003/4 Edition, p. 2018; Thieme-Becker, Allgemeines Lexikon der bildenden Kunstler, Vol. 29/30, p. 127-8; et al.