Crome, John

views updated May 14 2018

Crome, John (1768–1821). Landscape painter, born in Norwich where he spent almost all his life. The son of an innkeeper, Crome had little education and was apprenticed early to a coach- and sign-writer, spending his leisure sketching from nature. He supplemented his income by giving drawing lessons, and became the drawing master at the local grammar school in 1801. In 1803 he helped found the Norwich Society of Artists where he exhibited regularly and of which he became president in 1808. In the company of other British artists, he visited Paris in 1814, to see artworks acquired by Napoleon. Greatly influenced by the Dutch style, and the Romantic concept of landscape, Crome, together with Cotman, is considered the major artist of the Norwich School. He is well represented at Norwich Castle Museum and in the Tate and National Galleries, London.

June Cochrane

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