Thomas Barker (painter)
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Thomas Barker or Barker of Bath (1769 – 11 December 1847), was a British painter of
landscape A landscape is the visible features of an area of land, its landforms, and how they integrate with natural or human-made features, often considered in terms of their aesthetic appeal.''New Oxford American Dictionary''. A landscape includes th ...
and rural life.


Early life

Barker was born in 1769, at Trosnant near the village of
Pontypool Pontypool ( ) is a town and the administrative centre of the county borough of Torfaen, within the Historic counties of Wales, historic boundaries of Monmouthshire (historic), Monmouthshire in South Wales. , it has a population of 29,062. Locat ...
, in
Monmouthshire Monmouthshire ( ; ) is a Principal areas of Wales, county in the South East Wales, south east of Wales. It borders Powys to the north; the English counties of Herefordshire and Gloucestershire to the north and east; the Severn Estuary to the s ...
. His father, Benjamin Barker, was the son of a
barrister A barrister is a type of lawyer in common law jurisdiction (area), jurisdictions. Barristers mostly specialise in courtroom advocacy and litigation. Their tasks include arguing cases in courts and tribunals, drafting legal pleadings, jurisprud ...
, and practiced as an artist, but never attempted more than the portraits of horses. He eventually took up employment as a Japanware decorator. From an early age Barker showed a remarkable talent for drawing figures and designing landscapes, although he never took a lesson in either drawing or painting and was entirely self-taught. When he was sixteen his family moved to
Bath Bath may refer to: * Bathing, immersion in a fluid ** Bathtub, a large open container for water, in which a person may wash their body ** Public bathing, a public place where people bathe * Thermae, ancient Roman public bathing facilities Plac ...
where the patronage of an opulent coach-builder named Charles Spackman allowed him to follow his talent as an artist. During the first four years he employed himself in copying the works of the old
Dutch Dutch or Nederlands commonly refers to: * Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands ** Dutch people as an ethnic group () ** Dutch nationality law, history and regulations of Dutch citizenship () ** Dutch language () * In specific terms, i ...
and Flemish masters. At the age of twenty-one he was sent to Rome with ample funds to maintain his position there as a gentleman. While there he painted very little, contenting himself with society life.


Life as an artist

Barker was an occasional exhibitor at the
Royal Academy The Royal Academy of Arts (RA) is an art institution based in Burlington House in Piccadilly London, England. Founded in 1768, it has a unique position as an independent, privately funded institution led by eminent artists and architects. Its ...
and the
British Institution The British Institution (in full, the British Institution for Promoting the Fine Arts in the United Kingdom; founded 1805, disbanded 1867) was a private 19th-century society in London formed to exhibit the works of living and dead artists; it ...
for almost fifty years, during which period he exhibited nearly one hundred pictures. He was a prolific artist, and painted a wide range of subjects. Few pictures of the English school are more generally known and appreciated than ''The Woodman'', of which it appears two were painted, both of them from nature, and of life size: the first was sold to Mr. Macklin for 500 guineas; the second, for the same amount, became the property of Lord W. Paulett. In 1821 he painted the ''Trial of Queen Caroline'', which included portraits of many celebrated men; but perhaps the best effort of Barker's pencil skill was the
fresco Fresco ( or frescoes) is a technique of mural painting executed upon freshly laid ("wet") lime plaster. Water is used as the vehicle for the dry-powder pigment to merge with the plaster, and with the setting of the plaster, the painting become ...
, 30 feet in length, and 12 feet in height, representing ''The Inroad of the Turks upon Scio, in April, 1822,'' painted on the wall of his residence,
Sion Hill Sion Hill is a National Historic Landmark in Havre de Grace, Maryland, notable as an example of high-style Federal architecture and as the home of a family of prominent officers of the United States Navy. Work began at Sion Hill around 1785 ...
, Bath. When Barker's talents were in full vigour, no artist of his time had a greater hold on popular favour; his pictures of ''The Woodman'', ''Old Tom'' (painted before he was seventeen years of age), and gipsy groups and rustic figures, were copied onto almost every possible material:
Staffordshire pottery The Staffordshire Potteries is the industrial area encompassing the six towns Burslem, Fenton, Hanley, Longton, Tunstall and Stoke (which is now the city of Stoke-on-Trent) in Staffordshire, England. North Staffordshire became a centre of c ...
, Worcester china,
Manchester Manchester () is a city and the metropolitan borough of Greater Manchester, England. It had an estimated population of in . Greater Manchester is the third-most populous metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, with a population of 2.92&nbs ...
cottons, and
Glasgow Glasgow is the Cities of Scotland, most populous city in Scotland, located on the banks of the River Clyde in Strathclyde, west central Scotland. It is the List of cities in the United Kingdom, third-most-populous city in the United Kingdom ...
linens. At one time he amassed considerable property by the sale of his works, and spent a large sum in building a mansion for his residence, enriching it with sculpture and other works of art. He died at Bath in 1847. Barker was one of the first British artists to use
Lithography Lithography () is a planographic method of printing originally based on the miscibility, immiscibility of oil and water. The printing is from a stone (lithographic limestone) or a metal plate with a smooth surface. It was invented in 1796 by ...
as a print medium and contributed two prints ''Young Boy Seated'', and ''Tilemakers'' to ''Specimens of Polyautography'', the first British publication of a collection of Lithographic plates, originally published by Philipp André in 1803, and then reissued in an enlarged edition by Vollweiler in 1806-07. Barker's series of ''Rustic figures after nature'' published in Bath in 1813 in a small edition, is the first series of lithographs by a British single artist. Some of Barker's stones survive.


Works

There are six paintings by Barker in the
Tate Gallery Tate is an institution that houses, in a network of four art galleries, the United Kingdom's national collection of British art, and international modern and contemporary art. It is not a government institution, but its main sponsor is the UK ...
, including ''A Woodman and his Dog in a Storm'' (originally presented to the National Gallery in 1868) and several landscapes. The British Museum holds a number of Barker's drawings and prints. Three of Barker's paintings, ''Italian Landscape'' 1808, ''Landscape with a Waterfall'' and ''Landscape with Cattle'' are in
Wolverhampton Art Gallery Wolverhampton Art Gallery is located in Wolverhampton, England. The building was funded and constructed by local contractor Philip Horsman (1825–1890), and built on land provided by the municipal authority. It opened in May 1884. The buildi ...
. A painting of Wooded landscape with gipsies round a camp fire turned out to be probably the work of Barker painted over an earlier work by
Michael Dahl Michael Dahl ( 1659–1743) was a Swedish portrait painter who lived and worked in England most of his career and died there. He was one of the most internationally known Swedish painters of his time. He painted portraits of many aristocrats and ...
, was featured on the BBC television series ''
Fake or Fortune? ''Fake or Fortune?'' is a BBC One documentary television series which examines the provenance and attribution of notable artworks. Since the first series aired in 2011, ''Fake or Fortune?'' has drawn audiences of up to 5 million viewers in t ...
'' in 2019. Barker's work on this subject was heavily inspired by Gainsborough's, and he painted several copies of ''The Gipsies'', as well as many gypsy works of his own. He used the grouping from Gainsborough's ''The Gipsies'' as the background to one of his 1789 self-portraits. In an episode of BBC's ''
Britain's Lost Masterpieces ''Britain's Lost Masterpieces'' is a factual BBC Four documentary television series that aims to uncover overlooked art treasures in British public collections, in conjunction with Art UK. It is presented by Bendor Grosvenor, along with art hist ...
'' broadcast in November 2019, a forest scene thought to be a copy of a famous painting by Gainsborough, was located at Birmingham Art Gallery. Following a full restoration by Simon Gillespie, the work was attributed Barker. In 1825, Thomas Barker painted a fresco depicting the Chios Massacre on the walls of Doric House,
Bath, Somerset Bath (Received Pronunciation, RP: , ) is a city in Somerset, England, known for and named after its Roman Baths (Bath), Roman-built baths. At the 2021 census, the population was 94,092. Bath is in the valley of the River Avon, Bristol, River A ...
.YJC Cartledge, 'The Chios Massacre (1822) and early British Christian-humanitarianism', ''Historical Research'', vol. 93, no. 259 (February 2020), pp. 52-72, at pp. 60-61.


Family

As well as Thomas Barker, the Barker family produced several artists of note. As well as his father's ability, Thomas' younger brother Benjamin Barker II (1776–1838) was also a talented artist known for his landscape work. Benjamin II exhibited at the Royal Academy and many of his works were engraved by Thales Fielding in aquatint. Barker's son,
Thomas Jones Barker Thomas Jones Barker (19 April 1813 – 29 March 1882) was an English historical, military, and portrait painter. The Barkers of Bath Thomas Jones Barker was born at Bath, Somerset, Bath in 1815, into a family of artists. His grandfather, Benja ...
(1815–1882), followed his father and uncle into painting, studying at the studio of
Horace Vernet Émile Jean-Horace Vernet (; 30 June 178917 January 1863) more commonly known as simply Horace Vernet, was a French painter of battles, portraits, and Orientalist subjects. Biography Early career Vernet was born to Carle Vernet, another famo ...
in Paris. Many of Jones Barker's works were of a military nature, including ''Lord Clive's relief of Lucknow'' and ''The Allied generals before Sebastopol''.


References


Sources

*Bryan, Michael. "Barker, Thomas" in ''Bryan's Dictionary of Painters and Engravers'', vol. I (A–K), London: George Bell & Sons, 1886. *Dorment, Richard. "Thomas Barker of Bath," pages 9–12 in ''British Painting in the Philadelphia Museum of Art: From the Seventeenth through the Nineteenth Century'', Philadelphia Museum of Art, 1986. * * * *


External links

*
Thomas Barker of Bath: imitator, copyist and chameleon
by Hugh Belsey at the
Art UK Art UK is a cultural, education charity in the United Kingdom, previously known as the Public Catalogue Foundation. Since 2003, it has digitised more than 300,000 paintings, sculptures and other artworks by more than 53,700 artists. It was found ...
site.
Works by Benjamin Barker
Barker's father, at the
Art UK Art UK is a cultural, education charity in the United Kingdom, previously known as the Public Catalogue Foundation. Since 2003, it has digitised more than 300,000 paintings, sculptures and other artworks by more than 53,700 artists. It was found ...
site
Works by Joseph Barker
Barker's brother, at the
Art UK Art UK is a cultural, education charity in the United Kingdom, previously known as the Public Catalogue Foundation. Since 2003, it has digitised more than 300,000 paintings, sculptures and other artworks by more than 53,700 artists. It was found ...
site
Works by Benjamin Barker, Jr.
Barker's brother, at the
Art UK Art UK is a cultural, education charity in the United Kingdom, previously known as the Public Catalogue Foundation. Since 2003, it has digitised more than 300,000 paintings, sculptures and other artworks by more than 53,700 artists. It was found ...
site
Works by Thomas Jones Barker
Barker's older son at the
Art UK Art UK is a cultural, education charity in the United Kingdom, previously known as the Public Catalogue Foundation. Since 2003, it has digitised more than 300,000 paintings, sculptures and other artworks by more than 53,700 artists. It was found ...
site
Works by John Joseph Barker
Barker's younger son, at the
Art UK Art UK is a cultural, education charity in the United Kingdom, previously known as the Public Catalogue Foundation. Since 2003, it has digitised more than 300,000 paintings, sculptures and other artworks by more than 53,700 artists. It was found ...
site
Works by Marianne A. Barker
Barker's niece (daughter of Benjamin Barker, Jr.), at the
Art UK Art UK is a cultural, education charity in the United Kingdom, previously known as the Public Catalogue Foundation. Since 2003, it has digitised more than 300,000 paintings, sculptures and other artworks by more than 53,700 artists. It was found ...
site {{DEFAULTSORT:Barker, Thomas 1769 births 1847 deaths 18th-century Welsh painters 18th-century Welsh male artists 19th-century Welsh painters 19th-century Welsh male artists People from Pontypool Welsh male painters