Complex sentence: Oakley met Thomas Baker in Leamington Spa where Baker was living and working and in 1841 did a portrait of the celebrated painter, who was an important figure in the Midlands and Birmingham art world.
Split into simpler sentences: Oakley met Thomas Baker in Leamington Spa where Baker was living and working. In 1841 he did a portrait of the celebrated painter, who was an important figure in the Midlands and Birmingham art world.