Thomas Barker
British (1769-1847)
Thomas Barker (known as ‘Barker of Bath’) was a British painter of landscape and rural life. Born in 1769, at Trosnant near the village of Pontypool, in Monmouthshire, Barker showed a talent for drawing figures and designing landscapes at an early age although he was entirely self-taught. When he was sixteen his family moved to Bath where the patronage of a coach-builder named Charles Spackman allowed him to continue working as an artist. During the first four years he copied the works of the old Dutch and Flemish masters. Barker exhibited at the Royal Academy and the British Institution. His paintings were copied onto Staffordshire pottery, Worcester china, Manchester cottons and Glasgow linens.
Works by Barker are held at the Tate Gallery, the British Museum and Bristol Museum.
