A NEW biography of George Chinnery, the most talented Western painter to have worked on the South China coast, is an event worth celebrating. Only two previous attempts at his biography exist, both more notable for inaccuracies and an amateur approach than for any real merit.
Patrick Conner brings to the task his skills as an art historian, and also a certain balance and sense of humour appropriate to the subject.
He begins by demolishing the fog of myth surrounding Chinnery's life, allowing the robust, down-to-earth character of the painter to make its historical contribution.
The teenage Chinnery attended the Royal Academy in London and at the age of 19, had paintings in the academy's 1793 exhibition.
Surprisingly, for a youth set on success in the capital, he soon migrated to Dublin where he busied himself with portraits and miniatures, and married Marianne Yigne, his landlord's daughter, with whom he had two sons.
What occurred in the marriage we do not know, but Chinnery abruptly left Dublin for London, and shortly after left for Madras. On balance it seems he was disenchanted with his wife.