Thomas Barker, William Wyatt Dimond, c. 1790
Thomas Barker, Lieutenant-General Sir
William Cockburn, 1816
1767 - 1847
A one-time child prodigy,
Thomas Barker (1767-1847) was ‘discovered’ by a wealthy Bath coach
builder and property developer, Charles Spackman. Spackman
organised Barker’s artistic training, making him copy Old Master
paintings. It was usual for budding artists to learn from copying,
but Spackman seems to have been unusually severe with the young
man. It is said that Barker was made to copy one painting over 130
times.
Barker became very skilled at imitating other artists' styles.
On one occasion he was at the house of a Lady Jervis and spotted
one of his own paintings. Lady Jervis had believed it to be by
Rembrandt.
Barker spent his entire career in Bath, and as a young man was
very successful.
Although his early portraits are striking, his later work showed
less originality and more sentimentality. However, when he painted
his friends, the confidence and verve of his early works came
through again.