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Artist or Maker: John Crome (1768-1821)

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Provenance: Sotheby's, London, 20 November 1985, lot 81 (sold £6,600).

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Notes: John Crome was the son of a jouneyman weaver, and began his artistic life apprenticed to a coach and sign painter from 1783 to 1790. He found a patron in Thomas Harvey, a collector and amateur artist, enabling Crome to study the works of Dutch 17th Century masters in Harvey's collection such as Albert Cuyp, as well as works by Richard Wilson, whose influence on the young artist was paramount.

Crome established a a practice as a drawing master in Norwich in 1792 following his marriage to Phoebe Berney, sister-in-law of the artist Robert Ladbrooke (1769-1842). He subsequently co-founded the Norwich Society of Artists in 1803 with Ladbrooke, exhibiting annually from 1805 to 1833 under the name of The Norwich Society of Artists.

Crome's work was typically monochromatic and unfinished in appearance, with a strong sense of design, derived from his direct observation of nature. He revelled in painting the local landscape, and although his work was often met with criticism during his lifetime, within weeks of Crome's death people were reported to have gone 'crazy for his pictures' (Rev. W. Gunn to J. Flaxman, 4 May 1821; Cambridge, Trinity College Library).

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