Thomas Lawrence – Biography of Thomas Lawrence

The famous English painter and portraitist Sir Thomas Lawrence He was born on April 13, 1769, in Bristol. The son of an innkeeper his father owned the Black Bear in Devizes, where the young Lawrence earned a reputation as a child prodigy for his pencil portraits of customer profiles. Later, he began working in pastel colors, and in 1780, when his family moved to Bath, he established himself professionally.

He had little regular education or artistic training, but was already working with oil paintings by the time he moved to London in 1787. There he studied at the Royal Academy school for a short time, where he received encouragement from Sir Joshua Reynolds. Thomas he was handsome, charming, and exceptionally gifted. His initial success was phenomenal, and when he was 20 years old he was called to Windsor to paint the later widely acclaimed portrait of Queen Charlotte. He was elected associate of the Royal Academy in 1791 and in 1794, academic of said institution.

Lawrence he was a highly qualified draftsman. He soon abandoned pastels, but continued to make portraits in pencil and chalk. These were separate commissions and were seldom studies for paintings, as was his custom when carefully drawing the head and sometimes the entire composition on canvas, then painting over it. There are very interesting references to his working methods in Joseph Farington’s diaries.

After Reynolds died, Lawrence he became the leading English portrait painter. His works present a fluid touch, rich in color and a great ability to represent textures. He presented his models in a dramatic, sometimes theatrical way, producing very high-level romantic portraits.

After the death of John Hoppner in 1810, Lawrence He was sponsored by the Prince Regent, who knighted him in 1815 and sent him in 1818 to the political congresses of Aix-la-Chapelle and Vienna, where he painted 24 large full-length portraits of the military leaders and heads of state of the Holy Alliance. Masterfully and elegantly executed, these works now hang together in the Waterloo Chamber at Windsor Castle, a unique historical document of the time. For these works Lawrence He was recognized as the most important portrait painter in Europe. Upon his return to England in 1820 he was elected president of the Royal Academy.

Lawrence he was also a distinguished connoisseur. His collection of old master drawings is one of the best ever assembled; he was also instrumental in obtaining the collection of Greek sculptures known as the Elgin Marbles and in founding the National Gallery.

Sir Thomas Lawrence He died in London on January 7, 1830.