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CROME, JOHN (1769-1821)

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Originally appearing in Volume V07, Page 484 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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CROME, See also:JOHN (1769-1821) , See also:English landscape painter, founder and See also:chief representative of the " See also:Norwich School," often called Old Crome, to distinguish him from his son, was See also:born at Norwich, on the 21st of See also:December 1769. His See also:father was a See also:weaver, and could give him only the scantiest See also:education. His See also:early years were spent in See also:work of the humblest See also:kind; and at a See also:fit See also:age he became apprentice to a See also:house-painter. To this step he appears to have been led by an inborn love of See also:art and the See also:desire to acquaint himself by any means with its materials and processes. During his See also:apprenticeship he sometimes painted signboards, and devoted what leisure See also:time he had to sketching from nature. Through the See also:influence of a See also:rich art-loving friend he was enabled to See also:exchange his occupation of house-painter for that of See also:drawing-See also:master; and in this he was engaged throughout his See also:life. He took See also:great delight in a collection of Dutch pictures to which he had See also:access, and these he carefully studied. About 1790 he was introduced to See also:Sir See also:William See also:Beechey, whose house in See also:London he frequently visited, and from whom he gathered additional knowledge and help in his art. In 1805 the Norwich Society of Artists took definite shape, its origin being traceable a See also:year or two further back. Crome was its See also:president and the largest contributor to its See also:annual exhibitions. Among his pupils were See also:James See also:Stark, See also:Vincent, Thirtle and John See also:Bernay (Barney) Crome (1794-1842), his son. J.

S. See also:

Cotman, too, a greater artist than any of these, was associated with him. Crome continued to reside at Norwich, and with the exception of his See also:short visits to London had little or no communication with the great artists of his own time. He first exhibited at the Royal See also:Academy in 1806; but in this and the following twelve years he exhibited there only fourteen of his See also:works. With very few exceptions Crome's subjects are taken from the See also:familiar scenery of his native See also:county. Fidelity to nature was his dominant aim. " The See also:bit of See also:heath, the See also:boat, and the slow See also:water of the flattish See also:land, trees most of all—the single See also:tree in elaborate study, the See also:group of trees, and how the growth of one affects that of another, and the characteristics of each,"—these, says See also:Frederick See also:Wedmore (Studies in English Art), are the things to which he is most See also:constant. He still remains, says the same critic, of many trees the greatest draughtsman, and is especially the master of the See also:oak. His most important works are—" Mousehold Heath, near Norwich," now in the See also:National See also:Gallery; " See also:Clump of Trees, Hautbois See also:Common "; " Oak at Poringland "; the " See also:Willow "; " See also:Coast See also:Scene near See also:Yarmouth "; " See also:Bruges, on the See also:Ostend See also:River "; " See also:Slate Quarries "; the " See also:Italian Boulevards "; and the " Fishmarket at See also:Boulogne." He executed a See also:good many etchings, and the great See also:charm of these is in the beautiful and faithful See also:representation of trees. Crome enjoyed a very limited reputation during his life, and his pictures were sold at See also:low prices; but since his See also:death they have been more and more appreciated, and have given him a high See also:place among English painters of landscape. He died at Norwich on the 22nd of See also:April 1821. His son, J.

B. Crome, was his assistant in teaching, and his best pictures were in the same See also:

style, his moonlight effects being much admired. A collection of " Old " Crome's etchings, entitled See also:Norfolk Picturesque Scenery, was published in 1834, and was re-issued with a memoir by See also:Dawson See also:Turner in 1838, but in this issue the prints were retouched by other hands.

End of Article: CROME, JOHN (1769-1821)

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