John Opie painted his portrait, which was exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1800; one of Amelia Opie's ‘Lays’ is about this portrait.
He showed a precocious talent for drawing and mathematics; by the age of twelve he had mastered Euclid and opened an evening school for poor children where he taught reading, writing and arithmetic.
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In 1780, Opie travelled with Wolcot to London, where they shared a residence together, having entered into a formal profit-sharing agreement; Wolcot introduced the "Cornish wonder" to other artists, including the great Sir Joshua Reynolds, who went on to compare him to Caravaggio and Velazquez, and to prospective patrons.
John Opie, the painter known as The Cornish Wonder, was born here.
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