Richard Wilson (1 August 1714 - 15 May 1782) was a Welsh landscape painter, and one of the founder members of the Royal Academy in 1768. Wilson has been described as '...the most distinguished painter Wales has ever produced and the first to appreciate the aesthetic possibilities of his country.' He is considered to be the father of landscape painting in Britain.

The son of a clergyman, Wilson was born in Penegoes, Montgomeryshire. The family was an old and respected one, and Wilson was first cousin to Charles Pratt, 1st Earl Camden. In 1729 he went to London where he began as a portrait painter, under the apprenticeship of an obscure artist, Thomas Wright.

From 1750 to 1757 he was in Italy and adopted landscape on the ...