Biography
WILLIAM HOARE c. 1707–1792
Portrait painter in oil and crayons, born at Eye, Suffolk, probably in 1707, son of a prosperous farmer and brother to the sculptor Prince Hoare (d.1769). Pupil of Guiseppe Grisoni (1699–1769) with whom he went to Italy 1728, where he stayed for nine years, studying under Imperiali and supporting himself comfortably by copying famous masterpieces. Settled in Bath 1739 and was its most fashionable portraitist until the arrival of Gainsborough in 1759, although he remained in demand until giving up painting in about 1779. Exhibited SA 1761–2, elected RA 1769, and exhibited there 1770–9. Died in Bath, 9 December 1792, in prosperous circumstances.
His son Prince Hoare (1755–1835), also a painter, studied under him and under Mengs in Rome, but gave up painting for writing after 1785.
LITERATURE
Evelyn Newby, ‘The Hoares of Bath’, Bath History, 1, 1986, pp.90–127
