Biography

Not much is known about Hardy's background, life and career. He enrolled at the Royal Academy Schools at the end of 1778, where records show he had turned 21 in the previous June. He exhibited some 31 paintings at the Royal Academy

Royal Academy

The Royal Academy of Arts is an art institution based in Burlington House on Piccadilly, London. The Royal Academy of Arts has a unique position in being an independent, privately funded institution led by eminent artists and architects whose purpose is to promote the creation, enjoyment and...

 from 1778 to 1798 — practically all portraits — and four portraits at the Society of Artists exhibition in 1790.
Thomas Hardy’s sitters including musical figures active in London

London

London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...

 during the 1790s. Most of Hardy's portrait paintings was painted for the British music seller and publisher John Bland (c.1750 – c.1840). Bland appears to have commissioned oil portraits of several leading musicians of the day from Hardy, although the details surrounding this are uncertain, and published the resulting engravings based upon them.

Thomas Hardy is known for the famous portrait of the composer Joseph Haydn

Joseph Haydn

Franz Joseph Haydn , known as Joseph Haydn , was an Austrian composer, one of the most prolific and prominent composers of the Classical period. He is often called the "Father of the Symphony" and "Father of the String Quartet" because of his important contributions to these forms...

 now hanging in the Royal College of Music

Royal College of Music

The Royal College of Music is a conservatoire founded by Royal Charter in 1882, located in South Kensington, London, England.-Background:The first director was Sir George Grove and he was followed by Sir Hubert Parry...

. The subsequent engraving, also by Hardy and published by Bland, has been widely reproduced and copied since it first appeared in early 1792.

Thomas Hardy is also known for the noted portrait of the composer and pianist Muzio Clementi

Muzio Clementi

Muzio Clementi was a celebrated composer, pianist, pedagogue, conductor, music publisher, editor, and piano manufacturer. Born in Italy, he spent most of his life in England. He is best known for his piano sonatas, and his collection of piano studies, Gradus ad Parnassum...

. The stippled portrait was published on 31 October 1794 by the London music publisher John Bland No. 45 Holborn which is now at the British Museum

British Museum

The British Museum is a museum of human history and culture in London. Its collections, which number more than seven million objects, are amongst the largest and most comprehensive in the world and originate from all continents, illustrating and documenting the story of human culture from its...

.

Thomas Hardy also painted the portraits of Johann Peter Salomon

Johann Peter Salomon

Johann Peter Salomon was a German violinist, composer, conductor and musical impresario.-Life:...

, Ignaz Pleyel

Ignaz Pleyel

Ignace Joseph Pleyel , ; was an Austrian-born French composer and piano builder of the Classical period.-Early years:...

, Wilhelm Cramer

Wilhelm Cramer

Wilhelm Cramer was a famous London violinist and musical conductor of German origin. He was one of a numerous family who were identified with the progress of music during the 18th and 19th centuries...

, Samuel Arnold

Samuel Arnold

Samuel Arnold may refer to:*Samuel Arnold , English composer and organist*Samuel James Arnold , dramatist*Samuel Arnold , U.S. Representative from Connecticut...

, and William Shield

William Shield

William Shield was an English composer, violinist and violist who was born in Swalwell near Gateshead, the son of William Shield and his wife, Mary, née Cash.-Life and musical career:...

 (the last apparently commissioned one of the British music publisher John Bland's business successors, Francis Linley). Hardy exhibited four of these portraits at the Royal Academy: Joseph Haydn

Joseph Haydn

Franz Joseph Haydn , known as Joseph Haydn , was an Austrian composer, one of the most prolific and prominent composers of the Classical period. He is often called the "Father of the Symphony" and "Father of the String Quartet" because of his important contributions to these forms...

 and Johann Peter Salomon

Johann Peter Salomon

Johann Peter Salomon was a German violinist, composer, conductor and musical impresario.-Life:...

 in 1792, Wilhelm Cramer

Wilhelm Cramer

Wilhelm Cramer was a famous London violinist and musical conductor of German origin. He was one of a numerous family who were identified with the progress of music during the 18th and 19th centuries...

 in 1794, and Samuel Arnold

Samuel Arnold

Samuel Arnold may refer to:*Samuel Arnold , English composer and organist*Samuel James Arnold , dramatist*Samuel Arnold , U.S. Representative from Connecticut...

 in 1796. Hardy’s portrait of Wilhelm Cramer is at the National Portrait Gallery, London, and his portraits of Joseph Haydn, Johann Peter Salomon and William Shield are at the Royal College of Music.

The date of Thomas Hardy's death had been uncertain until now, but The Gentleman’s Magazine of October 1804 states that he died ‘after a long illness’ on 14 September 1804. His life prior to attending the Royal Academy Schools was also a complete mystery, although another unnoticed source, the diary of the topographical artist and academician Joseph Farington

Joseph Farington

Joseph Farington was an 18th-century English landscape painter and diarist.-Life and work:Born in Leigh, Lancashire, Farington was the second of seven sons of William Farington and Esther Gilbody. His father was the rector of Warrington and vicar of Leigh...

 (1747–1821), informs us that Hardy was born in Derbyshire

Derbyshire

Derbyshire is a county in the East Midlands of England. A substantial portion of the Peak District National Park lies within Derbyshire. The northern part of Derbyshire overlaps with the Pennines, a famous chain of hills and mountains. The county contains within its boundary of approx...

 and that he studied under Wright of Derby. Farington adds that he ‘died aged 47 in consequence of a cold caught at the Academy while painting Copies of the Portraits of the King & Queen for Lawrence’, which is consistent with The Gentleman’s Magazine notice. The painter Thomas Hardy has sometimes been confused with another Thomas Hardy: the shoemaker, radical, and founder of the London Corresponding Society

London Corresponding Society

London Corresponding Society was a moderate-radical body concentrating on reform of the Parliament of Great Britain, founded on 25 January 1792. The creators of the group were John Frost , an attorney, and Thomas Hardy, a shoemaker and metropolitan Radical...

 who lived 1752–1832. The mistake is partly understandable because Hardy the artist painted the politician John Horne Tooke

John Horne Tooke

John Horne Tooke was an English politician and philologist.-Early life and work:He was born in Newport Street, Long Acre, Westminster, the third son of John Horne, a poulterer in Newport Market. As a youth at Eton College, Tooke described his father to friends as a "turkey merchant"...

, who was associated with Hardy the radical, and the latter two were both put on trial for high treason in 1794.

External links

• Royal College of Music, An essay with Thomas Hardy's paintings by Alan Davison in music iconography.
• Getty Database
• Thomas Hardy (1757-circa 1805) on www.npg.org.uk (National Portrait Gallery)