Circle of Sir Thomas Lawrence PRA

1769 - 1830

Thomas Lawrence went from child prodigy to being the fourth President of the Royal Academy, regarded by some as the greatest English portrait painter. Lawrence was born in Bristol and began drawing while living in Devizes, where his father was an innkeeper at the Bear Hotel in the Market Square. At the age of ten, having moved to Bath, he was supporting his family with his pastel portraits. At 18, he went to London and soon established his reputation as a portrait painter in oils, receiving his first royal commission, a portrait of Queen Charlotte, in 1789. He stayed at the top of his profession until his death, aged 60, in 1830. Largely self-taught, he was a brilliant draughtsman and known for his gift of capturing a likeness, as well as his virtuoso handling of paint. He was elected to the Royal Academy in 1791 and became its President in 1820.

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