Thomas Jones (artist)
Thomas Jones (26 September 1742 – 29 April 1803) was a Welsh landscape painter. He was a pupil of
Biography
Early life and career
Thomas Jones was born in Trefonnen in
Jones moved to London and enrolled at
In 1765 Jones began to exhibit at the
Italy
Jones embarked on an eagerly anticipated trip to Italy in September 1776. The works produced there departed significantly from the example of his master, particularly in his watercolour paintings, where he developed a distinctive palette of varying shades of blue. Jacob More, John Robert Cozens and Thomas Banks were among the fellow expatriate artists with whom Jones was friendly. His first commission in Italy was a landscape entitled Lake Albano – Sunset for the Earl-Bishop of Derry, who became Jones's most important patron.
Jones made his first visit to Naples in September 1778, staying there for five months. He returned to Rome for a time, living in a house near the Spanish Steps built by Salvator Rosa.[4] He took on a Danish widow called Maria Moncke as his "Maid Servant" in April 1779, eloping with her to Naples a year later. Then the largest city in Italy, Naples promised more opportunities for patronage than had Rome, and Jones sought the patronage of the British Ambassador Sir William Hamilton in particular.[4] Maria gave birth to two daughters in Naples, Anna Maria (in 1780) and Elizabetha (in 1781).[citation needed]
Return from Italy and retirement
Upon hearing of his father's death in 1782, Jones, who after six years in Italy was becoming restless and homesick, returned to Britain. He set off for London with Maria, Anna and Elizabetha on a Swedish brig in August 1783. He arrived the following November only to find many of his possessions destroyed by damp, including all his painted studies from nature. In London Jones attempted to revive his career as a painter, but he had less impetus to do so as an annual income of £300 was left to him by his father. Although he exhibited ten works at the Royal Academy from 1784 to 1798, by 1785 he felt that his artistic career was over.[3]
In his later years Jones felt increasingly himself drawn back to Wales, especially his beloved Pencerrig. He inherited the estate in 1787, on the death of his brother Major John Jones without issue. With his new-found financial security[3] Thomas Jones finally married Maria Moncke on 16 September 1789 (though his devout mother also influenced the decision).[2] The wedding was held at St Pancras Church in London. Jones took an active interest in his estate, using his sketchbook to record new agricultural developments. In 1791, he even wrote a poem entitled "Petraeia" about his love for Pencerrig. (Cerrig, meaning 'stone' in Welsh, translates into Greek as petra.) 1791 was also the year when he became High Sheriff of Radnorshire.
Thomas Jones died in 1803; the cause of death was
Likenesses
- Giuseppe Marchi (c. 1735–1808), Portrait of Thomas Jones, 1768.
- Francesco Renaldi (1755–fl. 1798) Portrait of Thomas Jones and his Family, 1797.
References
- ^ Chilvers, Ian, The Oxford Concise Dictionary of Art and Artists. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2003
- ^ a b Sumner, Ann, "Who was Thomas Jones? The life, death and posthumous reputation of Thomas Jones of Pencerrig".Thomas Jones (1742–1803): An Artist Rediscovered. Ed. Ann Sumner and Greg Smith. New Haven and London: Yale University Press, 2003
- ^ Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. Ed. H. C. G. Matthew and Brian Harrison. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2004.
- ^ a b Riopelle, Christopher, "Thomas Jones in Italy". Thomas Jones (1742–1803): An Artist Rediscovered. Ed. Ann Sumner and Greg Smith. New Haven and London: Yale University Press, 2003
Further reading
- Richard Veasey, Thomas Jones Pencerrig – Artist, Traveller, Country Squire, y Lolfa, (2017)
- A. Sumner, G. Smith (ed.), Thomas Jones (1742–1803) An Artist Rediscovered [exhibition catalogue, National Museum Cardiff] (2003)
- F. W. Hawcroft, Travels in Italy 1776–1783 based on the Memoirs of Thomas Jones [exhibition catalogue, University of Manchester Whitworth Art Gallery] (1988)
- J. Gere, "Thomas Jones An Eighteenth-Century Conundrum", in Apollo (1970 June)
- Thomas Jones, "Memoirs of Thomas Jones, Penkerrig, Radnorshire, 1803", ed. P. Oppe, in The Thirty-Second Volume of the Walpole Society; 1946–8.
External links
- Website of Thomas Jones exhibition at the National Library of Wales, Aberystwyth (2003). Scans and transcripts of the National Library's holdings related to Jones, including his sketchbook and the Memoirs. (Retrieved 14 September 2007.)
- Entry for Thomas Jones on Welsh Biography Online
- Paintings by Thomas Jones in the National Gallery, London, including several of his open-air oil sketches from Italy
- Thomas Jones at WikiGallery.org