Rowlandson, Thomas (1757-1827)

Camelford Fair, one of English artist Thomas Rowlandson's scenes of English country life. Rowlandson was better known as a caricaturist and many of his engravings were produced at great speed. His designs were initially made with a reed pen and then washed with colour.

English painter and illustrator. One of the greatest caricaturists of 18th-century England, his fame rests on his humorous, often bawdy, depictions of the vanities and vices of Georgian social life. He illustrated many books, including Tour of Dr Syntax in Search of the Picturesque (1809), which was followed by two sequels between 1812 and 1821.

Born in London, Rowlandson studied at the Royal Academy schools and in Paris and in 1777 settled in London as a portrait painter. Impoverished by gambling, he turned to caricature around 1780.

He contributed illustrations to Ackerman's Poetical Magazine (1790) and to William Combe's Tour of Dr Syntax in Search of the Picturesque, and illustrated many other books, including The Microcosm of London, the topographical details of which were done by Pugin. His masterpiece Vauxhall Gardens (well-known from the aquatint engraving) was rediscovered in 1945. Other works include The Dance of Death (1815-16) and illustrations for works by the writers Tobias Smollett, Oliver Goldsmith, and Laurence Sterne.