The Romney Society

The Romney Society is dedicated to learning about eighteenth- century art and artists, in particular George Romney. Through a programme of lectures, visits and publications, the Society considers the visual arts of the time and the lives and achievements of artists. If you share our interest in the period you would be very welcome to join the Society and get involved.

Announcements

13/11/2025
The cleaning of Mrs Elizabeth Yorke, painted in 1787 has been completed.  

Online Lectures

Picture
29/10/2025

We are pleased to share an online presentation of our most recent lecture.

Dr Katherine Gazzard (Curator of Art, Royal Museums Greenwich) speaks on ‘Naval Gazing: Portraiture and the Royal Navy in the Long Eighteenth Century’

View the lecture here.
Members are requested to please check that their memberships are up to date.

About George Romney

Find out more about the artist George Romney, we also provide a biography and bibliography

Sketchbooks

Romney used sketchbooks all his life and over fifty survive in public collections around the world. The Society aims to bring as many as possible onto this web site and the first three via Abbott & Holder are shown here​.

Events

We are pleased to announce the first set lectures of the 2025-26 season. Our next lecture is:

Friday 14 November 2025 at 11.30am at South Lakes Foyer (95 Stricklandgate, Kendal LA9 4RA)
Dr Wendy McGlashan will speak on ‘Angelica Kauffman and the Cultural Performance of Friendship’

Transactions

Transactions are issued annually to all members. They usually contain four or five original and illustrated articles on aspects of 18th century art. They contain the Essay Prize for that year whenever the prize is awarded.

Some examples of George Romney's work