Page:Dictionary of Artists of the English School (1878).djvu/392

 KOU

of Swanevelt. He went early to Rome, and painted some fine views in the suburbs of that city. He excelled in landscape, introducing classic architecture with great skill. On nis return to Paris he was em- ployed by Louis XIV., and was elected a member of the French Academy. He was at the height of his reputation, when on the revocation of the Eaict of Nantes, he left Paris to avoid persecution as a Pro- testant, and took refuge in Holland, from whence he came to England. Here he found employment. He was engaged in the decoration of Montague House; and painted several landscapes and perspective views for Hampton Court Palace. He etched some spirited compositions of land- scape with architecture and figures. He could only have practised in England a short time, and died in London in 1694.

ROUW, Peter, gem engraver and mo- deller. From 1795 to 1840 he exhibited his works at the Royal Academy Exhibi- tions. In 1819 he was appointed * modeller of gems and cameos to the Prince Regent/ and from that time he called his works ' medallic portraits/ for which he gained a very high reputation, and had the most distinguished sitters — among them the Princess Charlotte. He died at Penton- ville, December 9, 1852, aged 81. His father, Peter Rouw, practised the same art, and was an exhibitor at the Academy up to 1777.

ROWBOTHAM, Thomas Leeson, water-colour painter. Was born in Dublin, May 21, 1823, and was the son of Thomas L. Rowbotham of Bath, also an artist. Till twelve years of age he lived at Bristol, where he met many painters who then re- sided in that city. He studied his pro- fession under his father, and in 1847 made a sketching tour in Wales, followed in the succeeding years by visits to Scotland, Germany, Normandy, and Italy. He was gradually led by his love for sunny effects to paint only marine subjects under Italian skies. He succeeded his father as drawing- master to the Royal Naval School, New Cross, and in 1858 was elected a member of the Institute of Painters in Water- Colours. He was a good musician. His health was never very strong, and he died at Kensington, June 30, 1875, aged 52.

ROWE, Edward, glass-painter. He did not attain any excellence, and little more than the record of his name can be traced. He died in the Old Bailey, April 2, 1763.

r ROWELL, John, glass-painter. Was )>orn at High Wycombe, and was originally a plumber at Reading. He was employed to paint some glass for the Earl of Pem- broke, the Bishop of Worcester, and for the Duke of Richmond, at Goodwood. The windows of Hambledon Church, Bucks,

ROW

I are by him. He is said to have succeeded William Price in the art, but it is not stated by whom he was instructed. He

Eainted one or two scripture subjects, but e was chiefly employed upon coats of arms. His processes were uncertain, his glass was imperfectly burnt, and some of his colours fail — but he is known to have discovered a fine red, of which the secret was lost with him. He died at Reading, September 2, 1756.

• ROWLANDSON, Thomas, caricaturist. Was born in the Old Jewry, the son of a respectable tradesman, in July, 1756. His talent for drawing was exhibited on the margins of his school books, and he be- came early in boyhood a student of the Royal Academy. At the age of 16 he was sent to Paris, where he studied drawing for two years, and then, on his return, resumed his place in the Academy schools. He* gained a good knowledge of the figure, and combined a rapid power of drawing with much finish. He was thrown upon his own resources before he had attained manhood by the pecuniary embarrassments of his father ; but he was liberally assisted by his aunt, a French lady who had mar- ried his uncle, to whose indulgence may be attributed some of the careless habits of his early life.

He was fitted, both by his talent and his art education, to have tilled a place in the ' higher ranks of art, and could draw with elegance and grace. In 1775 he exhibited at the Academy, ' Delilah visits Samson in Prison/ and afterwards some portraits ; but he was careless and idle, and, receiving 7000^, with other valuable property, under the will of his aunt, he gave himself up to gamiug, and soon dissipated above half his fortune. He was known in most of the London gaming-houses, and on one occa- sion sat uninterruptedly at the gaming- table for 36 hours. Such habits were in- consistent with any studied attempts, and he fell back upon his early talent for cari- cature, where the execution may be as rapid as the idea. In this manner his works are numerous, drawn chiefly with the reed pen, and slightly tinted, they are full of humour, excelling in a most humor- ous fancy, rarely political, but touching the manners of society— not always free from vulgarity, nor from too broad a treatment. Too thoughtless to seek employment, he was supplied with subjects by Mr. Acker- mann, the publisher, for whom he illustrated the well-known 'Dr. Syntax in Search of the Picturesque/ and ' The Dance of Death ' and ' Dance of Life' works by which he will be remembered. In the former of these, his designs, contributed from month to month, suggested the subject, and Mr* Combe, without knowing the artist, wrote his humorous poem to them. By his 2 371