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George Chinnery
George Chinnery

George Chinnery

English, 1774 - 1852
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George Chinnery was an English painter who spent most of his life in Asia, especially India and southern China.

Chinnery was born in London, where he studied at the Royal Academy Schools. His father was an exponent of the Gurney system of shorthand; his elder brother William Chinnery owned what is now Gilwell Park in Epping Forest in Essex, before he was discovered to have committed large-scale fraud, and fled to Sweden. George Chinnery moved in 1796 to Ireland, where he enjoyed some success as an artist, and married Marianne (née Vigne) on 19 April 1799 in Dublin.

Chinnery returned to London in 1801 without his wife and two infant children. In 1802 he sailed to Madras (Chennai) on the ship Gilwell. He established himself as a painter there and then in Calcutta (Kolkata), where he became the leading artist of the British community in India.

By 1813 Chinnery was a freemason, listed as a member of Calcutta's well-to-do masonic lodge Star in the East. This was one of three masonic lodges in that city which took part in the official welcome for Lord Moira (1754-1826), also a freemason, on his arrival there (1813) as the new Governor-General of India. Chinnery's masonic career is otherwise little documented, and its connection with his artistic output unexplored.

Some of his most famous paintings are of the Indian family of Colonel James Achilles Kirkpatrick British Resident to the Nizam of Hyderabad who had set up home, to some scandal among his fellow Europeans, with the Indo-Iranian great niece of the Nizam of Hyderabad's chief minister. He painted The Kirkpatrick Children presenting them " [with a] sympathy that is rare in portraiture of the period; the boy looking straight at the viewer with a self-conscious stance, hand on hip, while the girl looks uncomfortably at the floor." Mounting debt prompted a move in 1825 to southern China.

From 1825 until his death in 1852 Chinnery based himself in Macau, but until 1832 he made regular visits to Canton (now Guangzhou). He painted portraits of Chinese and Western merchants, visiting sea-captains, and their families resident in Macau. His work in oil paint was closely imitated by the Cantonese artist Lam Qua, who himself became a renowned portrait painter. Chinnery also painted landscapes (both in oils and in watercolours), and made numerous drawings of the people of Macau engaged in their daily activities.

In 1846 he made a six-month visit to Hong Kong, where he suffered from ill health but made detailed studies of the newly founded colony. He died in Macau on 30 May 1852 and is buried in the Old Protestant Cemetery there.

116 items

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Figure Seated by an Indian Temple

Figure Seated by an Indian Temple

George Chinnery (English, 1774 - 1852)
Landscape
Figure with Cattle Standing in the Shadow of a Building

Figure with Cattle Standing in the Shadow of a Building

George Chinnery (English, 1774 - 1852)
Landscape
Ruins of a Temple, Sunset

Ruins of a Temple, Sunset

George Chinnery (English, 1774 - 1852)
Landscape
Temple by the Lake

Temple by the Lake

George Chinnery (English, 1774 - 1852)
Landscape
Trees by a River

Trees by a River

George Chinnery (English, 1774 - 1852)
Landscape
Trees on a Hillside Path

Trees on a Hillside Path

George Chinnery (English, 1774 - 1852)
Landscape
Chinese Scene, Fishermen

Chinese Scene, Fishermen

George Chinnery (English, 1774 - 1852)
Figurative
Chinese Scene, Women Making Tea

Chinese Scene, Women Making Tea

George Chinnery (English, 1774 - 1852)
Figurative
Chinese Scene, Boats by Lake

Chinese Scene, Boats by Lake

George Chinnery (English, 1774 - 1852)
Landscape
A street scene in Macau with five men gambling

A street scene in Macau with five men gambling

George Chinnery (English, 1774 - 1852)
Figurative
A street scene in Macau with three men gambling

A street scene in Macau with three men gambling

George Chinnery (English, 1774 - 1852)
Figurative
Figures by a boat dwelling on the beach, Macau

Figures by a boat dwelling on the beach, Macau

George Chinnery (English, 1774 - 1852)
Figurative
Portrait of a young girl, traditionally identified as ‘Miss Marchbanks of Bushey’

Portrait of a young girl, traditionally identified as ‘Miss Marchbanks of Bushey’

George Chinnery (English, 1774 - 1852)
Figurative
Portrait of a European merchant

Portrait of a European merchant

George Chinnery (English, 1774 - 1852)
Figurative
Portrait of a Hong merchant in winter dress

Portrait of a Hong merchant in winter dress

George Chinnery (English, 1774 - 1852)
Figurative
Ruined mausoleum in North India

Ruined mausoleum in North India

George Chinnery (English, 1774 - 1852)
Figurative
Three men drinking soup around a brazier

Three men drinking soup around a brazier

George Chinnery (English, 1774 - 1852)
Figurative
A street scene in Macau with three men gambling

A street scene in Macau with three men gambling

George Chinnery (English, 1774 - 1852)
Figurative
A street scene in Macau with two figures playing a game

A street scene in Macau with two figures playing a game

George Chinnery (English, 1774 - 1852)
Figurative
A Tanka boatwoman, Macau

A Tanka boatwoman, Macau

George Chinnery (English, 1774 - 1852)
Figurative
Portrait of Margaret Wood (1810-1899) and her sister Mary (1811-1858)

Portrait of Margaret Wood (1810-1899) and her sister Mary (1811-1858)

George Chinnery (English, 1774 - 1852)
Figurative
Portrait of William Jardine (1784-1843)

Portrait of William Jardine (1784-1843)

George Chinnery (English, 1774 - 1852)
Figurative
Tanka boatpeople and a vendor on the coast at Macau

Tanka boatpeople and a vendor on the coast at Macau

George Chinnery (English, 1774 - 1852)
Figurative
A Bengal scene with a thatched dwelling and a goat beside a bridge

A Bengal scene with a thatched dwelling and a goat beside a bridge

George Chinnery (English, 1774 - 1852)
Landscape
The entrance to ‘the Honourable East India Company’s pagoda’, Madras

The entrance to ‘the Honourable East India Company’s pagoda’, Madras

George Chinnery (English, 1774 - 1852)
Landscape
A landscape in Macau with a herdsman and cattle watering, a stand of bamboo beyond

A landscape in Macau with a herdsman and cattle watering, a stand of bamboo beyond

George Chinnery (English, 1774 - 1852)
Landscape
A landscape in Macau with a herdsman walking along a track

A landscape in Macau with a herdsman walking along a track

George Chinnery (English, 1774 - 1852)
Landscape
Bengal landscape with a soldier and a distant shrine

Bengal landscape with a soldier and a distant shrine

George Chinnery (English, 1774 - 1852)
Landscape
Junks and Tanka boats in a bay, with a beached junk and cooking fire beyond

Junks and Tanka boats in a bay, with a beached junk and cooking fire beyond

George Chinnery (English, 1774 - 1852)
Landscape
A hut by a river with a cow, Bengal

A hut by a river with a cow, Bengal

George Chinnery (English, 1774 - 1852)
Landscape
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