George Morland - Work

Work

Morland's chief characteristic was that he painted the life that he knew. His pictures were of the everyday life of his time, and of the experiences of the folk with whom he mixed, depicted with purity and simplicity, and showing much direct and instinctive feeling for nature. His coloring is mellow, rich in tone, and vibrant in quality.

His work necessarily has the defects of his qualities and of his life - in his haste he often seems to have sacrificed some of the power which a more deliberate method might have imparted. Yet, in spite of all, he was one of the greatest masters of The English School, uniting in his work the magic of Gainsborough with the delicacy of an old Dutch painter. Though he made a speciality of horses, he painted life on the high road and scenes of rural life with marvellous insight and skill, If his women are not great ladies, they still possess a charm and grace of their own; and if his fame rests mainly upon his power of painting animals, his best attributes are shown in the social scenes which he portrayed so faithfully.

The finest of Morland's pictures were executed between 1790 and 1794, and amongst them his picture The inside of a stable (Tate Britain, London) may be reckoned as a masterpiece. In the last eight years of his life Morland produced some nine hundred paintings, besides over a thousand drawings.

He had a supreme power of observation and great executive skill, and he was able to select the vital constituents of a scene and depict even the least interesting of subjects with artistic grace and brilliant representation. His pictures are never crowded; the figures in them remarkably well composed, often so cleverly grouped as to conceal any inaccuracies of drawing, and to produce the effect of a very successful composition. As a painter of English scenes he takes the very highest position, and his work is marked by a spirit and a dash, always combined with broad, harmonious coloring. He exhibited regularly at the Royal Academy from 1784 down to 1804. Amongst these was the remarkable 1788 picture Excreable Human Traffic or the Affectionate Slaves. Two years later he exhibited a companion picture showing Africans caring for shipwrecked Europeans. They were subsequently published as prints and served to promote abolitionism.

Morland was a close friend of fellow artist, William Armfield Hobday (1771–1831) who painted a portrait of the artist which is still intact. William Collins was an informal pupil and later wrote a biography.

Note: Many colour plates of Morland's work can be found in the book "George Morland, his life and works" by Gilbey and Cumming (1907 - see below).