page_title: George Barret Sr.
section_title: The Duke of Portland
hierarchical_section_title: George Barret Sr. / Life / Move to England and patronage / The Duke of Portland
context_page_description: George Barret Sr. RA was an Irish landscape artist who is best known for his oil paintings, but also sometimes produced watercolours. He left Ireland in 1762 to establish himself as an artist in London and rapidly gained recognition as a leading artist of the period. He exhibited at the Society of Artists of Great Britain and was able to gain patronage from many leading art collectors. Barrett with other leading members left the Society in 1768 to found the Royal Academy, where he continued to exhibit until 1782. Barrett appears to have travelled extensively in England including the Lake District and the Isle of Wight, Wales, and Scotland to undertake commissions for his patrons. Barret suffered from asthma and this caused him to move in 1772 to Westbourne Green, at the time a country village to the west of Paddington. While he earned considerable quantities of money from his paintings, he has been described as being ‘‘feckless’’ with money. He was helped in 1782 by Edmund Burke, with whom he had become friends when Burke attended Trinity College, Dublin.
context_section_description: The Duke of Portland commissioned a dozen paintings of trees and the landscape at Welbeck Abbey from Barrett. The paintings were undertaken between 1765 and 1771 and  Barret was paid 80 guineas for the largest paintings, 60 guineas for the middle sized and 40 guineas for the smaller paintings. Most of these paintings are now on display at the Portland Gallery at Welbeck.
caption: The Severn Sisters oak in Welbeck Park by George Barrett 1765–1766
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