John (Old) CROME (GB, Norwich 1768-1821)

John CROME the elder or Old CROME (to distinguish him from his son, John Berney CROME, also the painter) – was a famous British artist and founder of the Norwich School of Painters, living in Norwich for his whole life. The son of a journeyman and weaver, John CROME worked as a painter, printmaker and teacher. He was apprenticed to the coach sign painter Francis WHISTLER from 1783 to 1790. He presumably continued in this trade during the 1790s whilst he was consolidating his artistic training. Early influences on CROME came from the local artists William BEECHEY and John OPIE. CROME also benefited from his friendship with the collector and amateur artist Thomas HARVEY. From 1792 CROME is documented as an artist and also as a drawing master to the wives and daughters of local gentry. Whilst teaching drawing to the local gentry, he also took artists as pupils. His most famous pupils were James STARK and George VINCENT. He was one of the founders of the Norwich Society of Artists in 1803. This was the first art movement in England to be formed outside London. They held their first exhibition in 1805, "Old Crome" contributing 22 works. John CROME worked predominantly in East Anglia – he only travelled abroad once, in 1814, to see the art collections brought to Paris by Napoleon. Establishing the chronology of Crome’s oeuvre is difficult as he did not sign his paintings with the exception of the earliest. This is why, despite the fact that John CROME was one of the principal English landscape painter of the Romantic era, he is much less known than Thomas GAINSHOROUGH, William TURNER or John CONSTABLE.