Volume 1

The Farington diary / edited by James Greig.

  • Joseph Farington
Date:
[1922?-1928]
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: The Farington diary / edited by James Greig. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    poem only in title. The Doctor esteems Smirke as the artist who per¬ fectly feels Shakespeare, and that the works of some of the artists should have been omitted by Messrs. Boydell. George and Nathaniel Dance Miss M. S. Dance writes : I have been reading with great interest your publication of the Farington Diary, as I am the great-granddaughter of George Dance, R.A., who is so often mentioned therein, and the “ piece of plate ”—which was really a “ service,” with centre-piece and entree dishes—presented to him by the Aca¬ demy, is in my possession—together with many sketches, plans, &c., and a large oil painting of his design for the building of London Bridge. A fine portrait of him was painted by Lawrence—this was sold at Christie’s a few years ago. I have also a portrait of N. Dance as a young man, painted by himself—a beautiful picture. His works are scarce, as the story goes that the wealthy Mrs. Dummer, whom he married, objected to his career as an artist which she considered infra dig.—but those extant are mostly very fine. It would be interesting to know if he ever did paint the Prince of Wales, and, if so, where the picture is now. I have a good miniature of George Dance by an unknown artist. [N. Dance painted portraits of the King and Queen in 1769, and the last works he exhibited at the Royal Academy were landscapes in 1792, 1794, and 1800. As far as we have as yet searched the Diary the portrait of the Prince of Wales which Farington referred to has not again been mentioned.]