George Clint ARA was a distinguished British painter and mezzotint engraver predominantly known for portraiture and dramatic scenes.

Early Years

Born at Drury Lane, in the heart of London’s West End, George Clint was destined to lead an exuberant life amid the spectacle of theatreland. His father, Michael Clint, was a hairdresser during a time of “hair pomatum, whalebone, wire, lace gauze, and feathers” - so young George would have encountered a variety of ‘characters’ during his childhood.

But despite these elevated surroundings, he soon discovered the darker side of London when thrust into the world of employment. Apprenticed initially as a fishmonger, he trained under a ferocious master who was known to beat him. The hours were unsocial, the conditions rank, and the work was brutal. He soon quit but subsequently found himself toiling for a corrupt attorney who demanded he undertake unscrupulous acts on his behalf.

Seeking a less volatile role, he turned next to house painting, at which he excelled. Commissioned, among other projects, to paint the stones of the arches in the nave of Westminster Abbey. Aside from an incident whereby he almost fell from the second story of a building, all was going well.

Miniatures & Mezzotint

Following his marriage in 1792 to Sarah Coxhead, a farmer’s daughter, he began work in earnest as a painter of miniatures, determined to forge a career. Robert William Buss’ memoir celebrates Clint’s success as a miniaturist, stating that “great manual excellence was united with that chaste, delicate feeling for female beauty which characterised all Mr. Clint's portraits of ladies.” 

Until this point, it appears he was predominantly self-taught, presumably constrained by a lack of finances. But from hereon in, his industrious nature coupled with several fortunate encounters, led to him developing an enviable talent for both painting and engraving. During the early 19th century, the acquaintances one kept could make or break your fortunes and perhaps acutely aware of this, Clint’s ‘society’ was an ever-evolving circle of influential personalities.

He was “initiated into the mysteries of engraving” by Edward Bell (act.1794-1819) and produced numerous works after the foremost artists, such as George Stubbs, John Hoppner, and Thomas Lawrence. Following a commission from Lawrence, he struck up a long-term friendship.

Oil Paintings & Sir William Beechey

Admired for his skill as a mezzotint engraver, he sought next to hone his technique in oils and, as with many aspiring portraitists, his first work in this respect was a depiction of his beloved wife. The pair were both delighted with it, yet over time Clint began to doubt himself and sought the validation of a superior hand - that of Sir William Beechey (1753-1839). However, paralysed with insecurity, he couldn’t face the potential criticism, so his wife took it instead - “with a child under one arm and the portrait in the other”. The result was immeasurably more positive than he’d envisaged and he became closely associated with Beechey until his death in 1839.

Numerous commissions followed from the landed gentry including Lord Egremont, Lord Spencer, and Lord Essex. But also from the theatrical community who would fill his studio at 83 Gower Street, Bloomsbury. His connections within the world of acting led to notable works such as ‘Malvolio and Sir Toby’ (from William Shakespeare's 'Twelfth Night', Act II, Scene iii)’ and ‘Harriet Smithson as Miss Dorillon, in Wives as They Were, and Maids as They Are’.

While his efforts in mezzotint included several contributions to JMW Turner’s Liber Studiorum.

As a measure of his success, Clint was elected an Associate of the Royal Academy in 1821 - a position he later relinquished for personal reasons. Today, he’s represented in numerous public collections including at The British Museum, Harvard Art Museums, The Met, V&A, Yale Center for British Art, and the National Portrait Gallery.

“The respect in which he was held, not only by his brother artists, but by an immense number of eminent men in various professions, and others of the highest rank, was the result of a rare combination of talent, candour, suavity of manner, and integrity of purpose”. [Obituary, 1854].

Exhibited

Royal Academy.

Public Collections

The British Museum, The Morgan Library & Museum, Harvard Art Museums, The Met, Bodleian Libraries Oxford, Government Art Collection, John Rylands Research Institute and Library, National Portrait Gallery, National Trust at Felbrigg Hall, National Trust at Petworth House, Nottingham City Museums & Galleries, Royal Shakespeare Theatre, Somerset Military Museum, Theatre Royal in Bath, University of Bristol Theatre Collection, University of Exeter, Victoria and Albert Museum, Yale Center for British Art.

Timeline

1770

Born in Drury Lane, Covent Garden, London, to Michael Clint, a hairdresser, and Mary George Clint.

Schooled in Yorkshire.

Apprenticed to a fishmonger.

Employed in an attorney’s office.

Worked as a house painter.

1792

Married Sarah Coxhead, a farmer’s daughter. The pair would have five sons and four daughters.

1802

Debuted at the Royal Academy with ‘Portrait of an Artist’. 99 works were shown between 1802 and 1845.

1807

Death of wife Sarah following the birth of son Alfred Clint (1807-1883).

Became a painter of miniatures.

Trained as a mezzotint engraver under Edward Bell (act. 1794-1819).

1816

Worked from a studio at 83 Gower Street, Bloomsbury, London.

1821

Elected an associate of the Royal Academy.

1825

Married Helena Melmoth.

1836

Resigned as an associate of the Royal Academy.

Moved to Pembroke Square, London.

1854

Died at Pembroke Square, London.

Obituaries & Memoirs

The Sussex Advertiser

“Another distinguished artist has ceased to live, George Clint, for several years President of the Artists' Fund, and once an associate member of the Royal Academy, which dignity he resigned on principle, died at his residence, Pembroke Square, Kensington, on Sunday night, at the advanced age of 84.

The respect in which he was held, not only by his brother artists, but by an immense number of eminent men in various professions, and others of the highest rank, was the result of a rare combination of talent, candour, suavity of manner, and integrity of purpose, under circumstances that would have been fatal to minds less regulated and upright than his. He raised himself from the humble condition of a journeyman house painter to a distinguished position as a painter of portraits and of subject pictures; many of his works are among the chief ornaments of the Garrick Club. 

This led him to a long and intimate acquaintance with the leading characters connected with the theatrical world, Cook, the Kembles, Kean, Dowton, Munden, Tom Welsh, Power Matthews, &c., &c. Haydon, Davis, Carew, J. P Knight, G. Lance, Rothwell, Sir William Beechy, and other eminent artists especially cultivated his acquaintance; and amongst men of rank and station the late Earl of Egremont and the celebrated Mr. Whitbread claimed as a frequent and favourite guest. 

Amidst all these temptations, however, his native modesty and frugal habits never deserted him: independence of character, the education and welfare of his large family, and benevolence towards the distresses of the unfortunate, guided all his actions; while a clear perception and sound judgement rendered him at once a delightful companion, a steady friend, a clever artist, and a good example to his children. The fund of anecdotes which he derived from his long intimacy with eminent men, and his unaffected manner of communicating them, and his general refinement of thought and of demeanour, made him an universal favourite, and an honour to his profession.”

Art Journal, Robert William Buss (1804-1875)

“Mr. George Clint, whose death we briefly noticed in our last number, was born on the 12th of April, 1770, in Brownlow Street, Drury Lane; his father's name was Michael Clint; he was a hairdresser, and kept a house in one of the passages leading from Lombard Street. The family belongs to Hexham, in Northumberland. In former times a hairdresser was not the kind of person he now is; the costume of that period was remarkable for the superstructures of hair pomatum, whalebone, wire, lace gauze, and feathers, which the ladies contrived to pile upon their heads by the aid of the ingenious hairdresser, who was then really obliged to study ornamental arrangement of the materials, and must have possessed taste. Doubtless the skill showed by his father in dressing the wigs of the city aristocracy, suggested ideas of form and of arrangement which in after-life ripened into the rich periwigged and velvet-coated groups of celebrated actors, painted by the son. 

One personal peculiarity Mr. G. Clint retained throughout life, that of extreme care in the toilette, the business of each day commencing with more than the usual time and attention bestowed by artists upon these matters; consequently he was remarkable for the neatness of his personal appearance.

His father had by his first wife a son and a daughter, by his second marriage a son (who was drowned at London Bridge), and two daughters. For some reason unexplained, his father gave up his house and business in the city, and with the proceeds of the sale, embarked as supercargo of an East Indiaman; some years after he died at Calcutta. In the meantime George Clint, after receiving a good plain education at a Yorkshire school, had been apprenticed to a fishmonger, but the early hours, loose habits, and disagreeable nature of this business, added to the brutality and dishonesty of his master, caused him to leave his service - a determination which was made after a quarrel in which his master abused and struck him. 

From this brutal treatment Clint sought protection of the Lord Mayor. For some time after his flight he found employment in an attorney's office; here he acquired that clear, legible, firm handwriting, which made his letters such agreeable communications to his friends; he also gained considerable knowledge of common law, and an uncommon aversion for lawyers' red tape and parchment. 

The pen was now laid aside, and a pound paint-brush taken up instead, for the office in which he was employed was in the habit of doing dirty work. His employer requiring him to go to one of the courts of law to give false evidence in a cause; he pondered as he went along upon what he was about to do; that rectitude of feeling which was over strong in him revolted from the perjury he was required to commit, and he never returned to the office. How he gained a knowledge of house-painting does not appear; probably some acquaintance of the future artist induced Clint to accompany him to his work. 

Certain it is that Mr. Clint's first practice in oil-painting was in the ‘grand’ style, and possessed the greatest possible breadth of effect; in pursuance of these great qualities he frequently reached a high position, for he told his pupil, Mr. R. W. Buss, that he had actually painted the stones of the arches in the nave in Westminster Abbey. He also painted the exterior of the highly decorated house, built by Sir Christopher Wren, in Cheapside, and since occupied by Mr. Tegg, the bookseller.

While thus engaged he nearly lost his life; he and his fellow workmen being too indolent to fetch the horse, as the house-painters term the small platform which they use to sit upon, agreed to balance each other on a plank, but finding he was sew-sawing from the edge of a second floor window, he looked at his mate inside, on whom beer, or sleep, or both, had taken such effect that another minute would have sufficed to precipitate Clint, brushes, and pots into the street; in this moment of peril, however, his firmness did not forsake him; he crept cautiously along the plank, and arrived in safety inside the room.

During his house-painting practice he married. A storm of rain overtaking him and a companion early one morning as they were going to their work, they sought shelter under a doorway in St. George's Fields, Borough; at the window of the opposite house appeared a smiling girl, whose good nature and pretty face arrested Clint's attention. Hence arose an acquaintance; this acquaintance was followed by some of those acts of kindness trebly valuable to a poor man who had lain for three nights on the floor without bed or bedding; for which, gratitude and affection combined to make this excellent girl his wife. She was the daughter of a small farmer in Berkshire; her devotion to her husband formed for many years his solace through his early struggles in art; by her he had five sons and four daughters. She died in a fortnight after giving birth to a son, Alfred, who is now so well known as a landscape painter. 

Some time after Clint's marriage, an inconvenient love of art came over him: a wife and several children had to be supplied with daily food; this was not provided by his new occupation as a miniature painter. After alternating between house-painting and his love of art, his innate conviction of talent determined him to abide by art. A series of frightful family privations followed, but in the end they were triumphantly overcome by the rapid advances he made as a miniature painter. These works have now been forgotten, but the writer of this memoir has seen several in which great manual excellence was united with that chaste, delicate feeling for female beauty which characterised all Mr. Clint's portraits of ladies. 

He was now fairly started in professional life, and took a painting room in Leadenhall Street: about this time he became acquainted with the then well-known and free-hearted John Bell, who published the beautifully illustrated edition of the ‘British Poets’. By Mr. Edward Bell, nephew of John Bell, a mezzotint engraver, he was initiated into the mysteries of engraving. Clint's ready comprehension of art in every branch, the wants of his family, and his steady and determined application, caused him to try his hand successfully at different Art-occupations. He not only painted miniatures, but made drawings of machinery, and philosophical apparatus, engraved in mezzotint, in the chalk style and in outline; amongst his early works are ‘The Frightened Horse,’ after Stubbs, a chalk engraving; ‘The Entombment of Christ,’ after Dietricy; numerous portraits in the chalk style; a large bold engraving in mezzotint of the ‘Death of Nelson,’ after the fine picture painted by W. Drummond, A.R. A., and a set of Raffaelle's cartoons in outline. He also was introduced to Sir Thomas Lawrence, who was greatly attached to him, and gave him some of his pictures to engrave. 

The study of pictures by Sir W. Beechey, Sir T. Lawrence, Owen, Devis, and other artists, kindled in Clint a natural desire to excel in oil painting, he having made several to excel in oil painting, he having made several essays, one of which introduced him to Sir W. Beechey. Clint's first attempt in oil was of course a portrait of his wife; this was pronounced by them both as a most wonderful effort, but after the first burst of triumph was over, Clint felt that there were many deficiencies, and having heard of Sir William Becchey's liberality of feeling towards his professional brethren, he longed to have Sir William's opinion upon the picture, but could not venture to face the great man; upon which his affectionate wife undertook to show the picture to Sir William. Arrived, as a poor but as an honest woman would, on foot, with a child on one arm, and her husband's picture under the other, Sir William Becchey received her in his most kind-hearted manner, ordered wine and refreshments up for her, complimented her on her zealous exertions, and the talent of her husband, requested that he would call on him immediately, ordered a coach for her to return in, and paid for it. 

To this fortunate interview Clint owed a long and most friendly intercourse with the excellent and truly English artist, Sir William Beechey, which terminated only at Beechey's death. Occasionally sign-painting brought in a few shillings, and more than one red cow appeared from the ready hand of Clint. Michael Sharp, afterwards known as the dramatic painter, and the painter of The ‘Bee's Wing,’ ‘The Last Pinch,’ and other popular subjects, was then a pupil at Beechey's, and he facetiously bestowed the appellation of ‘St. Luke’ upon Mr. Clint; the saint, however, before long surpassed Sharp as a painter of theatrical scenes. 

In Clint's early days of oil painting, he was frequently at Sir William Beechey's studio, and from Sir William he derived much valuable advice in art. By his great friend, Mr. Samuel Reynolds, the eminent mezzotint engraver, he was advised to make water-colour portraits; through him Clint was introduced to the celebrated Samuel Whitbread, whom he painted, and visited frequently at Southall.

Like most struggling artists, Clint had long intervals frequently without employment; at such times, when neither commissions in painting nor engraving came in, he filled up his time by copying subjects from prints, principally from Morland and Teniers; the most lucrative of these were after Morland, and he painted pictures of ‘The Enraged Bull,’ and ‘The Horse Struck by Lightning,’ by the dozen. His introduction to Sir Thomas Lawrence is stated, by Mr. Lupton, the mezzotint engraver, also a pupil of Mr. Clint, to have arisen from Clint's having engraved a plate after a copy from a picture by Lawrence. This Lawrence saw, and was so much pleased with it, that he gave him the pictures of General Stewart, Sir Edmund Antrobus, Lady Dundas, and several other persons of rank, to engrave. 

In the course of his visiting, Mr. Clint had met Lord Ellenborough, and hearing that he had been sitting to Lawrence for his portrait, Clint asked his lordship to allow him to engrave it, which Lord Ellenborough kindly promised. It happened, however, that Sir Thomas Lawrence had disposed of the copyright, and already engaged another engraver. Upon this, some misunderstanding arose between Lawrence and Mr. Clint, which resulted in a withdrawal of his patronage - an act which very seriously affected Clint's pecuniary position. Sir Thomas, however, was always on friendly terms with Mr. Clint, and esteemed his talent highly. It was after his rupture with Sir Thomas Lawrence that the large plate of ‘The Death of Nelson’ was engraved the date of the plate is 1807. 

One of the most fortunate events of Mr. Clint's life was his being commissioned to engrave ‘The Kemble Family,’ after Harlowe. This beautiful picture - containing very finely executed portraits of John Kemble, Mrs. Siddons, Charles and Stephen Kemble, Blanchard, Wewitzer, Conway, Park (the oboe player), Miss Stephens (afterwards Countess of Essex), and other celebrities - had been recently painted by Harlowe for Mr. Tom Welsh, and had created an immense sensation on its being exhibited at the Royal Academy. It placed Harlowe at once in a high position as an artist. Its popularity induced Mr. Cribb, the printseller, to speculate in a plate engraved after the picture, and Mr. Clint was named as the engraver. Harlowe hesitated until he had seen engraved works, as well as pictures, by Clint. His scruples vanished instantly, and Harlowe owes his public name entirely to this masterly engraving from his only great work. To Clint's practice in both arts, the bold and painter-like execution of the print of the Kemble family is entirely attributable. No mezzotint engraver has ever given the touch of the painter so truly as Mr. Clint; and, although in exquisite finish, in delicate tones, and other subtleties of art present works may surpass the print of the Kemble family, yet for surpass the print of the Kemble family, yet for richness of colour, variety of texture, bold execution, nice adaptation of the chalk, line, and etching styles to enrich mezzotint - this print still stands alone. Its popularity was so great, that the plate was engraved three times.

Clint's painting-room (he had removed from Hart Street, Bloomsbury, to Gower Street) now became thronged with all the distinguished actors and actresses of the day, and with the supporters of the drama. The result of all this popularity was a series of fine dramatic pictures which will preserve to posterity the name of Clint along with that of Zoffany, to whom, in many respects, Clint was very superior. The first of these theatrical subjects was a picture of ‘W. Farren, Farley, and Jones, as Lord Ogleby, Canton, and Brush, in the Comedy of the Clandestine Marriage’. Then followed ‘Munden, Knight, and Mrs. Orger, in Lock and Key,’ painted for Mathews the elder. For this picture Mr. Clint was elected an Associate of the Royal Academy. 

At this time Welsh proposed to Clint to paint a companion subject to the Kemble family; but, alas! there was no other family so distinguished. Kean, however, was in his zenith, and drawing immense houses by his fine acting in Sir Giles Överreach. The last scene was selected, and Clint produced an admirable picture of this exciting scene. Kean, as Sir Giles, baffled in his villainy, draws his sword to kill his daughter; and at this moment the by-play and expression of the different actors are exquisitely portrayed. Munden, Oxberry, Harley, Holland, Penley, and Mrs. Orger are all introduced. 

The picture of the ‘Beggars' Opera,’ perpetuating that hard old actor Blanchard, the fine actress Mrs. Davenport, and Miss M. Tree, was Clint's next production. Then followed ‘Tayleure, Mrs. Davenport, and Clara Fisher in the Spoilt Child,’ painted for Lord Liverpool. A very fine picture of ‘Fawcett and Charles Kemble as Captain Copp and Charles II.,’ for Mathews; ‘Mathews, Liston, and Blanchard, in 'Love, Law, and Physic;’ ‘Mathews as the Lying Valet;’ ‘Bartley as Sir John Falstaff;’ ‘Oxberry as Master Peter;’ ‘Harley as Popolino inThe Sleeping Draught;’ ‘Liston and Farren in Charles XII.’ painted for Lord Essex; ‘Miss Foote as Maria Darlington,’ painted for Colonel Berkeley; ‘Young as Hamlet;’ ‘Kean as Richard III.;’ ‘Macready as Macbeth;’ ‘Liston, Madame Vestris, Miss Glover, and Williams, in Paul Pry.’ 

The series of pictures was brought to a close by the utter negligence of the British drama. The theatres were closed at first at intervals, and, ultimately, entirely to the genius of Shakspere and our dramatic poets. At the Garrick Club may be seen the great actors and actresses us they lived during the palmy days of the English stage, and preserved to the admiration of posterity by the talented pencil of Mr. Clint, without whose aid they would have been lost, as would have been Garrick without Zoffany and Reynolds, De Wilde and Wageman: the latter especially had great talent in individual portraiture, but no one could vie with Clint for pictorial grouping, richness of colour, composition, expression and dry humour as applied to theatrical pictures. 

The talent he displayed procured him the friendship of Lawrence, Beechey, Mulready, Stanfield, Roberts, Bailey, Cooper, Witherington, and other members of the Royal Academy. But in spite of all Academy politics, the war of parties, in which the talents of men became secondary to the defeat of the adverse faction, conspired to keep Mr. Clint for sixteen years in the rank of an Associate, until his popularity had passed over - as we have seen the stage itself had been - upon which he raised his reputation as an artist. Younger men, whose claims could not be resisted, passed over his head, and some also less worthy of the honour than himself. 

At last, finding the efforts of his friends useless, he determined to resign his rank as an Associate, which he did most respectfully. After so long a period, the honour of being elected an Academician, would have come too late in life, had he waited even for twenty years. He therefore withdrew from the list of Associates, feeling that he was only keeping out some other deserving artist. By a curious coincidence, the vacancy Clint caused was filled by Mr. J. P. Knight, his pupil, the son of Knight the celebrated actor, who had frequently sat to and admired the talent of Mr. Clint.

In portrait-painting Clint was eminently successful: his men were gentlemen, and his ladies modest and charming, not captivating, and something more, as Lawrence's portraits of ladies were. He painted Lord Suffield and his lady, Lord Egremont twice or thrice: one picture of the latter, a whole-length, is in the Town Hall at Brighton. For this the inhabitants voted Mr. Clint a handsome gold snuff-box valued at one hundred guineas. Lord Essex, Lord Spencer, the daughter of the Duke of Newcastle, General Wyndham, Admiral Windham, and numerous other persons of distinction sat to him. For Lord Egremont he painted three scenes from Shakespere; and he had the gratification of knowing from his lordship, that he was simply indebted to his own talent for his introduction to this munificent nobleman.

For Mr. Griffiths of Norwood, Clint commenced and painted many portraits for a theatrical gallery, viz., Munden, Grimaldi, Fawcett, Knight, Cooper, Liston, Mathews, Bannister, Harley, Tom Cooke, Kean. Some of these pictures were entirely destroyed in a fire that broke out in the residence of Mr. Griffith: the half-length of Bannister, a remarkably fine portrait, was the greatest loss. For Mr. Vernon, Clint painted a scene from Shakespere, and it now forms part of the National Gallery of Works of Art.

Mr. Clint from his earliest time was thoroughly a gentleman in his feelings: the highest sentiments of honour and integrity were cherished by him almost to a Quixotic degree: he had felt poverty, and knew the value of professional advice to the young artist; therefore he was at all times a friend to young men. Associated with Mulready, Cooper, and other distinguished artists, he laboured unceasingly and successfully to establish the Artists' Benevolent and Annuity Fund, one of the greatest comforts to the artist who, by the exercise of prudence, can put by a small sum annually, so as to raise his moral character above the debasing necessity of soliciting charity. 

This Society he established for artists, and has, consequently, been held in their highest esteem. His sincerity attracted the confidence of all with whom he was acquainted: from the peer to the humblest artist he was their confidential friend: the advice he gave was always honest, straightforward, and such that could be safely acted on. Of his sons, Luke, the eldest, died young, but gave great promise as a scene-painter; Raphael was a gem-sculptor, and possessed considerable talent; Scipio distinguished himself as a medallist, and died just as patronage was about to be bestowed upon him; his son Alfred speaks for himself as a landscape-painter on the walls of our numerous exhibitions of art; Leonidas, his youngest child, graduated at Trinity College, Cambridge, some years since, has taken his Master's degree, and is now the mathematical professor in a college in one of our Indian cities. 

Mr. Clint had as pupils, and, consequently, as friends, Messrs. Lupton, J. P. Knight, R.A., R. W. Buss, T. Colley, besides his own sons Alfred and Luke Clint. For many years he had retired from his profession and lived at Peckham, and ultimately in Pembroke Square, Kensington, upon some property he derived from his second marriage, added to that raised from his practice as a painter and a mezzotint engraver. 

R. W. Buss.”