Details of Sculptor

Surname

Rennie

Alternative Surname

First Name

George

Initial of Surname

R

Year of Birth/Baptism

1802

Flourished

Year of Death

1860

Biographical Details

He was born at Phantassie, East Lothian, the son of George Rennie, the agriculturist (1749-1828) and the nephew of John Rennie, the engineer(1762-1821). After studying sculpture in Rome, possibly under Bertel Thorvaldsen, Rennie returned to England and he exhibited his most famous work, The archer, at the Royal Academy in 1828 (3). The New Monthly Magazine commented that the model of an almost naked figure, showed an ‘admirable knowledge of anatomy’, while the finish showed the influence of the Apollo Belvedere and both countenance and form were ‘well worthy of one of those whom we might imagine a hero of a marathon’. The writer was surprised therefore to find that the ‘very inferior’ statue of a Gleaner in the same exhibition was ‘from the chisel of the same artist’ (New Monthly Mag, 1828, vol 24, 256) (4). Rennie exhibited at the RA in 1831-4 and in 1837, and his addresses were recorded in the Academy catalogues as George Street, Portman Square; Stafford Row, Pimlico and Chesham Place.
During the 1830s he turned his attention to politics, with the aim of improving the state of the arts in England. In 1836 he suggested to the Liberal politician William Ewart that a parliamentary committee should be formed, leading to the establishment of the School of Design at Somerset House. He also assisted the radical politician Joseph Hume in his efforts to obtain public freedom of access to all monuments and works of art in public buildings and museums. He was elected Liberal MP for Ipswich in 1841. The sculptor’s collection of his own models, bronzes and marbles, together with models by Thorvaldsen and Richard James Wyatt, was sold in London on 9 June 1843. After retiring from Parliament in 1847, he was appointed governor of the Falkland Islands and in that position he won praise for his diplomatic skills and for encouraging the economic development of the islands. He returned to England in 1855 and died at his home, 32 York Terrace, Regent's Park, London, on 22 March 1860 and was buried in the catacombs of the Anglican chapel at Kensal Green cemetery. He left a widow, Jane, and two sons, William Hepburn Rennie, and Richard Temple Rennie, a barrister, of Shanghai, China and 113 Piccadilly.
Literary References: Athenaeum, 31 March, 1860, 445; Physick 1969, 22, 181; Read 1982, 50; Curl 2001, 242; Bilbey 2002, 350; ODNB (Dodgson rev Woodward)
Wills and Administrations: PPR, letters of administration, 7 April 1860, effects valued at under £3,000. ‘Admon of Goods unadministered pasted at the Principal Probate Registry August 1867 / Admon of Goods twice unadministered pasted at the Princl. Regy. January 1875.
Auction Catalogues: Rennie 184