Queen Charlotte

1787 · Opleiding

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.

1791

Elected an associate of the Royal Academy

Elected an associate of the Royal Academy of Arts, a year after the failed attempt of 1790.