La Thangue was born in Surrey, studied at the Royal Academy, and then in Paris at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts. In 1881-1882 he painted in Brittany with Stanhope Forbes.
Upon returning to England, La Thangue continued to paint in the Impressionist plein-air style, painting outdoors. His frequent method was to leave visible large square brushstrokes rather than the traditional method of smoothing away the brushstrokes.
