I04 Bath in its relation to Art. 



road is still known as Gainsborough's elm. Hence his 

 studio was sought by the more discerning visitors. Men 

 and women of eminence at the Bar, in Music, on the Stage, 

 and in the Senate were charmed by his social qualities as 

 well as his artistic power. For full-length figures his price 

 soon rose to fifty, seventy, and a hundred guineas. Here 

 he painted Lord Chancellor Camden, Bishop Hurd, Miss 

 Linley, Sheridan, Richardson, Garrick, Burke, Sterne, Quin, 

 and many others. One of the earliest members of the 

 Royal Academy^ he often sent up pictures by a prosperous 

 London carrier, who generously refused payment. But in 

 return Gainsborough presented his friend with six of his best 

 works. Some idea of their ultimate value may be formed 

 from the fact that when at length the treasures were sold 

 the National Gallery secured two — the " Parish Clerk " for 

 _^5oo, and the " Harvest Wagon " for ;^2,5oo, the prices 

 being considered low. Lately another, "The Sisters," 

 from another gallery, realised ;^9,975. 



After living fourteen years in Bath, Gains- 

 w.Hoare.R.A., borough removed to London. How the 



and the 



Barkers. fame he had acquired aided him in his larger 

 sphere is well known. What he did to found 

 the English school, of which the nation is now so proud, 

 may be seen in the greatest galleries of the country. One 

 of his contemporaries in Bath was William Hoare. Private 

 collections contain crayon drawings by him of much merit, 

 and there are two good works in local public buildings — the 

 " Altar Piece," in the Octagon Chapel, and an appropriate 

 picture in the ' Mineral Water Hospital. During the latter 

 part of Hoare's life the most promising artist in Bath was 

 Thomas Barker, a Welsh lad from Pontypool. He came 

 at the age of thirteen, and worked his way to a good position 



