George Beaumont. Sir George Howland Beaumont, 7th Baronet was a British art patron and amateur painter.
He played a crucial part in the creation of London's National Gallery by making the first bequest of paintings to that institution. Born in Great Dunmow, Essex, he was the only surviving child of the landowner Sir George Beaumont, 6th Baronet, from whom he inherited the baronetcy in 1762 and Rachel daughter of Michael Howland of Stone Hall, Matching Green.
Beaumont was educated at Eton College, where he was taught drawing by the landscape painter Alexander Cozens. The first paintings to enter Beaumont's collection were by artists he knew, but a Grand Tour which he undertook in 1782 with his wife Margaret widened his taste to include the Old Masters.
On his return he began to assemble a collection of Old Master paintings despite his relatively modest means. His first important acquisition was A Landscape with Hagar and the Angel by Claude Lorrain, and this always remained his favourite painting, accompanying him on coach journeys in a specially-designed case.
In 1785 Lady Beaumont inherited the lease of 34 Grosvenor Square, which provided the Beaumonts with a much-needed escape from the tedium of Dunmow and introduced them to a more diverse social circle. This circle expanded when Beaumont became Tory MP for Beer Alston in Devon from 1790 to 1796, but his enthusiasm for politics was short-live
He played a crucial part in the creation of London's National Gallery by making the first bequest of paintings to that institution. Born in Great Dunmow, Essex, he was the only surviving child of the landowner Sir George Beaumont, 6th Baronet, from whom he inherited the baronetcy in 1762 and Rachel daughter of Michael Howland of Stone Hall, Matching Green.
Beaumont was educated at Eton College, where he was taught drawing by the landscape painter Alexander Cozens. The first paintings to enter Beaumont's collection were by artists he knew, but a Grand Tour which he undertook in 1782 with his wife Margaret widened his taste to include the Old Masters.
On his return he began to assemble a collection of Old Master paintings despite his relatively modest means. His first important acquisition was A Landscape with Hagar and the Angel by Claude Lorrain, and this always remained his favourite painting, accompanying him on coach journeys in a specially-designed case.
In 1785 Lady Beaumont inherited the lease of 34 Grosvenor Square, which provided the Beaumonts with a much-needed escape from the tedium of Dunmow and introduced them to a more diverse social circle. This circle expanded when Beaumont became Tory MP for Beer Alston in Devon from 1790 to 1796, but his enthusiasm for politics was short-live
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