(1712/13 - 1782)
Richard Wilson was a key figure in the early development of British landscape painting. He worked as a portraitist until the 1750s, when he spent seven years studying in Italy. He trained himself to become a landscape artist in the style of Lorrain and Poussin, whose classical and idyllic landscapes were popular with the English upper classes. Wilson built up a successful landscape practice in London on his return from Italy, but his career declined in the 1770s, in part as a result of his alcoholism and illness.
