MORLAND, GEORGE (1763-1804), English painter of animals and rustic scenes, was born in London on June 26, 1763. His father and grandfather were both artists, and his mother is usually identified with a Maria Morland, who exhibited at the Academy in 1785 and 1786. Morland exhibited sketches at the Royal Academy in 1773 when he was only ten years old; he exhibited at the Free Society in 1775 and 1776, at the Society of Artists in 1777, and at the Royal Academy in 1778, 1779 and 1780. He studied for a short time at the Royal Academy, but from the age of 14 was apprenticed to his father, who was artist, engraver and picture-restorer. Before his apprentice ship came to an end Romney offered to take Morland into his studio for three years, with a salary of 1300 a year, but the offer was rejected. As soon as Morland was free from his dull, respectable home, he began a career of reckless prodigality. In 1785 he was in France, and in 1786 he married Anne, the sister of William Ward, the engraver.
At this time Morland painted the six pictures known as the Laetitia series, engraved by J. R. Smith, and four other didactic works, "The Idle and the Industrious Mechanic" and "The Idle Laundress and the Industrious Cottager," engraved by Blake. When he moved from Pleasant Passage, Hampstead road, where he lived after his marriage, to Warren place, he began the ex travagant course which ruined him. In 1799 he was sent to King's Bench prison, where he lived "within the rules," occupy ing a small furnished house in St. George's Fields with his wife and his brother Henry, but keeping his exact residence a secret. From this time onward he worked chiefly for his brother, who, like his friends, regarded him as a gold mine and exploited him shamelessly. Henry Morland found it advantageous to employ him at a daily fee of from two to ten guineas. In 1802 he was set free, but in 1803 had to place himself in the custody of the Marshalsea to avoid his creditors. Dissipation had already ruined his health. His left hand was paralyzed, apoplectic fits became frequent and his nerves were completely shattered. He now lived
for long periods with his brother, to whom he always returned after a fierce quarrel had caused temporary absence. On Oct. 19, 1804, during one of these absences, he was arrested for a small debt and taken to a sponging-house. There he stayed, refusing all offers of help. While trying to make a drawing which could be sold in discharge of the debt he was seized with a fit. This led to an attack of brain fever of which he died on Oct. 29.
Morland's career is represented as one long record of impris onments for debt, but his capacity for work was astounding, and when he was not painting he was usually recording impres sions. According to one biographer, Dawe, he painted 492 pic tures for his brother alone between 1796 and his death.
The finest of his pictures were executed between I790 and 1794, and amongst them his "Inside of a Stable," in the National Gallery, may be reckoned as a masterpiece. His scenes in rustic and homely life show much instinctive feeling for nature. His colouring is mellow, rich in tone, and vibrant in quality, but, with all their charm, his works reveal often signs of the haste with which they were painted and the carelessness with which they were drawn. As a painter of English scenes he takes the very highest position. Many of his best works have been well rendered in mezzo-tint by J. R. Smith, W. Ward, his brother in-law, P. Dawe, G. Keating, S. W. Reynolds and other engrav ers. He exhibited regularly at the Royal Academy from 1784 to 1804, but few of his Academy pictures can be identified owing to the inadequate description of them afforded by their titles. Both the originals and the mezzo-tint engravings still sell for high prices : the Laetitia series were sold for L5,600 in 1904 and "Dancing fetched 4,000 guineas in 1905.
Four biographies of him appeared shortly after his death, written by W. Collins (1805), F. W. Blagdon (18o6), J. Hassell (18°6) and George Dawe (1807). Later biographies are those by Ralph Richard son (1895), J. T. Nettleship (1898), G. C. Williamson (19o4 and 1907), Sir Walter Gilbey and E. D. Cumming (19o7).