Lady in White Dress with Blue Shawl

Though this portrait of a lady in a hat with a bow in front of shady park scenery is not signed, it is clearly recognisable as a work by Romany, due to the free, watery painting of the background and clothes. It is not known whether Romany painted the lady in Paris or in Lyon (where he lived in 1792).
Romany painted the background and clothes partly with opaque, partly with translucent colours and skilled, visible brushwork. Possibly this was a new technique which he developed at the beginning of the 1790s. Romany wrote in a letter to his friend Wertmüller: “My way of painting has changed and is no longer recognisable; and I think if you saw what I paint you would say that I am a great man. I found a simple way and confess that this is great luck for me... .”¹ Despite this success Romany did not dare to exhibit his works in the Paris Salons, as he feared sharp comments from the critics.²
B. P.