Meanwhile, in the life of Thomas Lawrence
The whole life1787 · Education
Royal Academy of Arts
1787
London: meeting Reynolds
Shortly before his eighteenth birthday he arrives in London and takes lodgings in Leicester Square, close to the studio of Sir Joshua Reynolds, who receives the young man warmly and advises him to study nature rather than the Old Masters. Lawrence sets up a studio at 41 Jermyn Street and installs his parents in a house in Greek Street.
1787
First works at the Royal Academy exhibition
Exhibits several works at the Royal Academy exhibition at Somerset House; he does not stay long as a student of the Academy, abandoning the drawing of classical statues to concentrate on portraiture.
1789
First royal commission
At just twenty he is summoned to Windsor Castle to paint portraits of Queen Charlotte and Princess Amelia. The Queen finds him presumptuous and dislikes the finished portrait, which will remain in his studio until his death.
1790
Queen Charlotte and Elizabeth Farren on show
The Academy exhibition shows his portrait of Queen Charlotte, which, despite the sitter’s displeasure, wins critical acclaim. Also exhibited is the portrait of the actress Elizabeth Farren, soon to be Countess of Derby: it makes Lawrence still more famous, and a newspaper notes that in it the actress is entirely herself — arch, spirited, elegant and engaging.
