![George Romney, Major Thomas Pearson (c.1740 - 1781) [?], Painted circa 1770 - 1771](https://artlogic-res.cloudinary.com/w_2400,h_2400,c_limit,f_auto,fl_lossy,q_auto/artlogicstorage/weissgallery/images/view/30b2c4f2288e9dc3395adaf6c34e45c9j/theweissgallery-george-romney-major-thomas-pearson-c.1740-1781-painted-circa-1770-1771.jpg)
George Romney
Major Thomas Pearson (c.1740 - 1781) [?], Painted circa 1770 - 1771
Oil on unlined canvas
24 7/8 x 19 7/8 in. (63.2 x 50.4 cm.)
Copyright: The Weiss Gallery, London
Presented in profile, looking right, the sitter of this newly discovered characterful portrait is very likely the British army officer, traveller and book collector Major Thomas Pearson, who was painted several times by the celebrated society portraitist George Romney.
Provenance
Private collection, United Kingdom.
Pearson was an intimate and early friend of the artist; upon his return to England from India, in August 1770, Romney began work on a double-length portrait of An Officer Conversing with a Brahmin where Pearson was prominently featured. The painting was exhibited at the Royal Society of Artists in 1771 but has since been dismantled. Around the same time, Romney painted a profile portrait of Pearson, to which the present work is closely related (The Vancouver Art Gallery).