Sir Thomas Lawrence PRA FRS (1769 – 1830) was a child prodigy. He was born in Bristol and began drawing in Devizes, where his father was an innkeeper at the Bear Hotel in the Market Square. At the age of ten, he was supporting his family with his pastel portraits. At eighteen 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 1790. He stayed at the top of his profession until his death, aged 60, in 1830.
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 became an associate of the Royal Academy in 1791, a full member in 1794, and president in 1820. In 1810 he acquired the generous patronage of the Prince Regent, was sent abroad to paint portraits of allied leaders for the Waterloo chamber at Windsor Castle, and is particularly remembered as the Romantic portraitist of the Regency. Lawrence's love affairs were not happy (his tortuous relationships with Sally and Maria Siddons became the subject of several books) and, in spite of his success, he spent most of life deep in debt. He never married. At his death, Lawrence was the most fashionable portrait painter in Europe. His reputation waned during Victorian times, but has since been partially restored.
It was during the family's six-year stay at the Black Bear Inn that Lawrence senior began to make use of his son's precocious talents for drawing and reciting poetry. Visitors would be greeted with the words "Gentlemen, here's my son – will you have him recite from the poets, or take your portraits?" Among those who listened to a recitation from Tom, or Tommy as he was called, was the actor David Garrick.
The young Lawrence established himself as a portraitist in pastels. The oval portraits, for which he was soon charging three guineas, were about 12 inches by 10 inches (30 by 25 cm), and usually portrayed a half-length. Talented, charming and attractive (and surprisingly modest) Lawrence was popular with Bath residents and visitors: artists William Hoare and Mary Hartley gave him encouragement; wealthy people allowed him to study their collections of paintings and Lawrence's drawing of a copy of Raphael's Transfiguration was awarded a silver-gilt palette and a prize of 5 guineas by the Society of Arts in London.
Sometime before his eighteenth birthday in 1787 Lawrence arrived in London, taking lodgings in Leicester Square, near to Joshua Reynolds' studio. He was introduced to Reynolds, who advised him to study nature, rather than the Old Masters. Lawrence set up a studio and installed his parents in a house in Greek Street. He exhibited several works in the 1787 Royal Academy exhibition at Somerset House, and enrolled as a student at the Royal Academy but did not stay long, abandoning the drawing of classical statues to concentrate on his portraiture. In the Royal Academy exhibition of 1788 Lawrence was represented by five portraits in pastels and one in oils, a medium he quickly mastered. Between 1787 and his death in 1830 he would miss only two of the annual exhibitions: once, in 1809, in protest about the way his paintings had been displayed and once, in 1819, because he was abroad.
In 1791 Lawrence was elected an associate of the Royal Academy and the following year, on the death of Sir Joshua Reynolds, King George III appointed him "painter-in-ordinary to his majesty". His reputation was established, and he moved to a studio in Old Bond Street. Although commissions were pouring in, Lawrence was in financial difficulties. His debts would stay with him for the rest of life: he narrowly avoided bankruptcy and had to be bailed out by wealthy sitters and friends, and died insolvent. Biographers have never been able to discover the source of his debts; he was a prodigiously hard worker and did not appear to live extravagantly.
Another source of unhappiness in Lawrence's life was his romantic entanglement with two of Sarah Siddons' daughters. He fell in love first with Sally, then transferred his affections onto her sister Maria, then broke with Maria and turned to Sally again.
To keep up with the demand for replicas of his portraits, he was making use of studio assistants. The early years of the nineteenth century saw Lawrence's portrait practice continue to flourish: amongst his sitters were major political figures such as Henry Dundas, 1st Viscount Melville and William Lamb, 2nd Viscount Melbourne, whose wife Lady Caroline Lamb was also painted by Lawrence.
By the time the Prince of Wales was made regent in 1811, Lawrence was acknowledged as the foremost portrait painter in the country. Through one of his sitters, Lord Charles Stewart, he met the Prince Regent who was to become his most important patron. As well as portraits of himself, the prince commissioned portraits of allied leaders: the Duke of Wellington, Field-Marshal von Blücher and Count Platov sat for Lawrence at his new house at 65 Russell Square.
In 1817 the prince commissioned Lawrence to paint a portrait of his daughter Princess Charlotte, who was pregnant with her first child. Charlotte died in childbirth; Lawrence completed the portrait and presented it to her husband Prince Leopold at Claremont on his birthday, as agreed.
Eventually, in September 1818, Lawrence was able to make his postponed trip to the continent to paint the allied leaders, first at Aachen and then at the conference of Vienna, for what would become the Waterloo Chamber series, housed in Windsor Castle.
Lawrence was famed for the length of time he took to finish some of his paintings (Isabella Wolff waited twelve years for her portrait to be completed) and, at his death, his studio contained a large number of unfinished works.
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Self-Portrait. 1788
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Queen Charlotte. 1787
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Mary, Countess of Inchiquin. 1790
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Rebecca, Lady Simeon. 1790
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Sir Graham Moore. 1792
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The Two Sons of the Earl of Talbot. 1793
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A Gipsy girl. 1794
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Amelia Stewart, Marchioness of Londonderry. 1794
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Sarah Barrett Moulton. 1794
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Caroline of Brunswick. 1798
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Portrait of a Lady. 1800
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Alexander MacKenzie. 1800-01
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Princess Charlotte of Wales. 1801
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Maria Woodley. 1806
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King George III in State Opening of Parliament dress. 1809
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Ayscoghe Boucherett Jr. 1810
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Thomas Campbell. 1810
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Warren Hastings. 1811
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Count Matvei Platov, 1814
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The Duke of Wellington. 1814
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Prince Frederick, Duke of York. 1816
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Lady Selina Meade. 1819
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Maria, Lady Callcott. 1819
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Pope Pius VII in Rome. 1819
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Sir Walter Scott. 1820
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Portrait of Marguerite, Countess of Blessington. 1822
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The Calmady Children. 1824
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King Charles X of France. 1825
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Wilhelmina Bowlby. 1825
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Lady Peel. 1827
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John Fawcet. 1828
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Portrait of the Honorable Mrs. Seymour Bathurst. 1828
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John Frederick Campbell. 1829
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Princess Lieven, n.d.
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