Editing Thomas Lawrence (section)

=== "Always in love and always in debt" ===
[[File:Queen Charlotte by Sir Thomas Lawrence 1789.jpg|thumb|upright=1.2|left|''[[Portrait of Queen Charlotte (Lawrence)|Portrait of Queen Charlotte]]'' (1789). Lawrence's first royal commission: [[Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz|Queen Charlotte]], wife of [[George III]]]]

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 at 41 Jermyn Street 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. 

At the Royal Academy exhibition of 1788 he was represented by five portraits in pastels and one in oils, a medium he quickly mastered. Between 1787 and his death in 1830 he missed only two of the annual exhibitions: in 1809, protesting how his paintings had been displayed; and in 1819, because he was abroad. In 1789 he exhibited 13 portraits, mostly in oil, including one of [[William Linley]] and one of Lady Cremorne, his first attempt at a full-length portrait.<ref>Levey 2005: 77–79</ref> They received favourable comments in the press, with one critic referring to him as "the [[Joshua Reynolds|Sir Joshua]] of futurity not far off". Aged just 20, Lawrence received his first royal commission, a summons arriving from Windsor Palace to paint the portraits of [[Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz|Queen Charlotte]] and [[Princess Amelia of the United Kingdom|Princess Amelia]].<ref>Levey 2005: 76–77</ref> 

The queen found Lawrence presumptuous (although he made a good impression on the princesses and ladies-in-waiting) and she did not like the finished portrait, which remained in Lawrence's studio until his death. When it was exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1790, however, it received critical acclaim.<ref>Levey 2005: 85–90</ref> Also shown that year was another of Lawrence's most famous portraits, that of actress [[Elizabeth Farren]], soon to be the Countess of Derby, "completely Elizabeth Farren: arch, spirited, elegant and engaging", according to one newspaper.<ref>Levey 2005: 92</ref>
[[File:Microcosm of London Plate 002 - Exhibition at Somerset House by Thomas Rowlandson and Augustus Pugin. 1800..jpg|thumb|upright=1.25|Lawrence exhibited in 40 [[Royal Academy of Arts|Royal Academy]] annual exhibitions.]]
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 [[Principal Painter in Ordinary|"painter-in-ordinary to his majesty"]].<ref>Levey 2005: 93</ref> His reputation was established, and he moved to a studio in Old Bond Street. In 1794 he became a full member of the Royal Academy.<ref>Levey: 109</ref>

Although commissions were pouring in, Lawrence was in financial difficulties. His debts stayed with him for the rest of life. He narrowly avoided bankruptcy, 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 (once referring in a letter to his portrait painting as "mill-horse business")<ref>Levey 2005: 137</ref> and did not appear to live extravagantly. Lawrence himself said: "I have never been extravagant nor profligate in the use of money. Neither gaming, horses, curricles, expensive entertainments, nor secret sources of ruin from vulgar licentiousness have swept it from me".<ref>Lawrence, Sir Thomas ''Dictionary of national biography'', vol. 32, 1892: 278–285</ref> 
[[File:Sally Siddons by Thomas Lawrence.jpg|thumb|upright=1.2|left|Lawrence was in love with [[Sarah Siddons]]' daughter Sally. Painting by Thomas Lawrence, eighteenth century.]]
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 to her sister Maria, then broke with Maria and turned to Sally again. Both sisters had fragile health; Maria died in 1798, on her deathbed extracting a promise from her sister never to marry Lawrence. Sally kept her promise and refused to see Lawrence again; she died in 1803. Lawrence continued on friendly terms with their mother and painted several portraits of her. He never married. In later years, two women provided him with companionship — friends Elizabeth Croft, and Isabella Wolff, who met Lawrence when she sat for her portrait in 1803. Isabella was married to Danish consul Jens Wolff, but she separated from him in 1810. Sir Michael Levey suggests that people may have wondered if Lawrence was the father of her son Herman.<ref>Levey 2005: 194, 263</ref>

Lawrence's departures from portraiture were very rare. In the early 1790s he completed two history pictures: ''[[Homer Reciting his Poems]]'', a small picture of the poet in a pastoral setting; and ''Satan summoning his legions'', a giant canvas illustrating lines from [[John Milton]]'s [[Paradise Lost]].<ref>[http://www.racollection.org.uk/ixbin/indexplus?record=ART389&session=OVO3AeCglt_ Royal Academy of the Arts Collections artist of the month: Sir Thomas Lawrence] features ''Satan summoning his legions''.</ref> Boxer [[John Jackson (English boxer)|John Jackson]] posed for the naked body of Satan; the face is that of Sarah Siddons' brother, [[John Philip Kemble]].<ref>Goldring 1951: 110</ref>

[[File:Satan summoning his Legions, 1796-1797 by Sir Thomas Lawrence.jpg|thumb|''Satan summoning his Legions'', 1796–1797]]
Lawrence's parents died within a few months of each other in 1797. He gave up his house in Picadilly, where he had moved from Old Bond Street, to set up his studio in the family home in Greek Street. By now, to keep up with the demand for replicas of his portraits, he was using studio assistants, most notable of whom were [[William Etty]] and [[George Henry Harlow]].<ref>{{cite book |last=Garlick |first=Kenneth |date=1989 |title=Sir Thomas Lawrence: A Complete Catalogue of the Oil Paintings |location=Oxford |publisher=Phaidon |page=25 }}</ref>

The early years of the 19th 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]] he also painted. The king commissioned portraits of his daughter-in-law [[Caroline of Brunswick|Caroline]], the estranged wife of the [[George IV|Prince of Wales]]; and his granddaughter [[Princess Charlotte of Wales (1796–1817)|Charlotte]]. Lawrence stayed at Montague House, the princess's residence in Blackheath, while he was painting the portraits and thus became implicated in the "[[delicate investigation]]" into Caroline's morals. He swore an affidavit that although he had on occasion been alone with her, the door had never been locked or bolted and he had "not the least objection for all the world to have heard or seen what took place".<ref>Goldring 1951: 213–219</ref> Expertly defended by [[Spencer Perceval]], he was exonerated.