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The Chamber of Genius

The Chamber of Genius

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Thomas Rowlandson

The struggling artist, like the grub-street writers of Hogarth's time, became a commonplace for frustrated ambitions. In Rowlandson's print the genius paints a Blakean prophet in the midst of a chaotic chamber where books, musical and alchemical instruments, and clothing are strewn haphazardly about. One child tends the fire while the other pours a cup of gin. The genius himself has overturned a chamberpot. However, Rowlandson's choice of verse for the caption is sympathetic enough that some critics regard this as a self-portrait.
Artist
Thomas Rowlandson
(English, 1756 - 1827)
Title
The Chamber of Genius
Date
1806
Medium
Etching and color wash
Dimensions
9 1/8 x 11 3/16 in. Overall
Credit
Gift of the heirs of William S. Marshall
Accession No.
53.8.12
Classification
Prints
Geography
England

Related

1953, gifted by the heirs of William S. Marshall to the University of Wisconsin – Madison; 1967, transferred to the Elvehjem Museum of Art [now called Chazen Museum of Art]

  • Madison Art Center. "Six Centuries of Prints and Drawings From The University of Wisconsin Collections." Madison, WI: The Madison Art Association, 1965.

  • British Satire from Hogarth to Cruikshank: Elvehjem Museum of Art, 9/15/2001–11/4/2001
  • Line, Tone, and Color: Old Master Printmaking Techniques: Elvehjem Museum of Art, 11/23/1985–1/26/1986
  • Manners, Vice and Folly: University of Iowa Museum of Art, 12/23/1977–2/19/1978
  • Six Centuries of Prints and Drawings from the University of Wisconsin Collections: Madison Art Center, 11/21/1965–12/11/1965
  • Old Master Prints: The Paine Art Center, 11/30/1963–1/7/1964

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