Largely self-taught, Sir Thomas Lawrence was a child prodigy and at the age of 10 he was making accomplished portraits in pastel.
At the age of eighteen he moved to London and entered the Royal Academy Schools. He quickly established his reputation as a portrait painter in oils, receiving his first royal commission, a portrait of Queen Charlotte, in 1790. Known for his gift of capturing a likeness, as well as his handling of paint, Lawrence created the image of Regency high-society with dazzling brushwork and an innovative use of colour.
In 1792, Lawrence became the King’s official Painter-in-Ordinary, completing several portraits of the monarch. His flattering and glamorous portraits proved highly popular and, from the 1790s onwards, he was kept busy with a constant stream of commissions from the rich and famous. In 1814, Lawrence was given a prestigious commission by the Prince Regent to paint the allied leaders involved in the defeat of Napoleon. Lawrence became an associate of the Royal Academy in 1791, a full member in 1794, and president in 1820.
Lawrence’s sitters embody the romantic glamour associated with the Regency period and he is particularly remembered as the Romantic portraitist of the Regency era.