Thomas Richmond (1802-1874) was a British portrait painter, known for his idealised pictures in the so-called Keepsake

Keepsake

Keepsake was an American barbershop quartet from Florida that won the 1992 SPEBSQSA International Barbershop Competition. Members of the quartet areJoe Connelly , Tony Derosa , Don Barnick , and Roger Ross .-Discography:...

 style. He was the son of Thomas Richmond

Thomas Richmond (miniature-painter)

-Life:He was son of Thomas Richmond, originally of Bawtry, and of an old Yorkshire family. His father was 'groom of the stables' to the Duke of Gloucester, and afterwards the proprietor of the Coach and Horses at Kew, where the artist was born in 1771...

 (1771–1837), the miniature painter, and the brother of George Richmond

George Richmond

For the 21st century educator see George H. RichmondGeorge Richmond was an English painter.George Richmond was the father of the painter William Blake Richmond as well as the grandfather of the naval historian, Admiral Sir Herbert Richmond.A keen follower of cricket, Richmond was noted in one...

.

Richmond initially practiced in Sheffield

Sheffield

Sheffield is a city and metropolitan borough of South Yorkshire, England. Its name derives from the River Sheaf, which runs through the city. Historically a part of the West Riding of Yorkshire, and with some of its southern suburbs annexed from Derbyshire, the city has grown from its largely...

, and later moved to London. His main clientele was among the hunting fraternity. Between 1833 and 1860 he exhibited fifty one portraits in London.
He exhibited forty-five portraits 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...

 and six at the Suffolk Street gallery. Richmond's paintings are close in style to his father's work, but distinguished by the characteristic use of dark stippling in the background. His paintings were criticised for their overly idealised and sugary presentations of subjects, especially women. When John Ruskin

John Ruskin

John Ruskin was the leading English art critic of the Victorian era, also an art patron, draughtsman, watercolourist, a prominent social thinker and philanthropist. He wrote on subjects ranging from geology to architecture, myth to ornithology, literature to education, and botany to political...

's father commissioned Richmond to paint his daughter-in-law Effie Gray

Effie Gray

Euphemia Chalmers Millais, Lady Millais née Gray, known as Effie Gray, Effie Ruskin or Effie Millais was the wife of the critic John Ruskin, but left her husband without the marriage being consummated, and after the annulment of the marriage, married his protégé, the Pre-Raphaelite painter John...

, Effie wrote of the finished work to her mother:

'...it is the most lovely piece of oil painting but much prettier than me. I look like a graceful Doll but John and his father are delighted with it'.

Richmond and his brother George had met Ruskin during his trip to Rome in 1840-1. He accompanied him on his visits to galleries. Ruskin's father was not as delighted with the portrait of Effie as she believed. He wrote to his son that "Tom I regret to say cannot hold a candle to George - It is second rate or lower".

Richmond died in 1874 at Windermere

Windermere

Windermere is the largest natural lake of England. It is also a name used in a number of places, including:-Australia:* Lake Windermere , a reservoir, Australian Capital Territory * Lake Windermere...

, where he had purchased an estate, but was buried in Brompton cemetery

Brompton Cemetery

Brompton Cemetery is located near Earl's Court in South West London, England . It is managed by The Royal Parks and is one of the Magnificent Seven...

, London.