Portrait of a Boy, Probably James Collinson

Lancashire-born George Romney was a fashionable 18th-century portrait painter. Paintings of children helped to establish his career. James Collinson was probably painted about 1767 on Romney’s second visit back to the north after he moved to London in 1762. It forms part of a family set: the mother and sister are also owned by the Walker Art Gallery; a portrait of Mr Collinson is in a private collection. James Collinson, a Lancaster notary public, had two children, James and Jane, who were five and four respectively in 1767.