Hugh Barron (c. 1746 - 1791) was an English portrait painter and amateur musician.[1]
Barron was the son of an apothecary in Soho, London, and became a pupil of Sir Joshua Reynolds. After leaving the studio of Reynolds he started for Italy by way of Lisbon (Portugal). He stopped some time in that city and painted portraits. In 1771-2 he was in Rome. Returning to London he settled in Leicester Square, and exhibited some portraits at the Royal Academy in 1782-3 and 1786. However, his later work did not fulfil the promise of his youth, and he never approached the quality of work of his teacher. He was, however, a good violinist, and considered the best amateur performer of his time.
He died in the autumn of 1791, aged about forty-five. There is a mezzotint by Valentine Green, after a portrait by Barren, of J. Swan.
This article incorporates text from the article "BARRON, Hugh" in Bryan's Dictionary of Painters and Engravers by Michael Bryan, edited by Robert Edmund Graves and Sir Walter Armstrong, an 1886–1889 publication now in the public domain.