Born in Warwickshire England, Thomas Birch and his father immigrated to the United States in 1794, settling in Philadelphia. His father was noted enamellist and miniaturist, William Russell Birch, and young Thomas would assist his father in this intricate work, no doubt contributing to his technical abilities. The two worked together from 1799 to 1800 as William Birch & Son, designing, engraving, and publishing topographical views of Philadelphia. Around 1806 he began painting portraits and marine subjects, and soon moved to landscapes and seascapes.

 
At one of his exhibitions in Philadelphia at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine in 1825, Thomas Cole and other notable artists expressed great admiration for Birch's paintings and became quite interested in his artistic style. Birch used a technique similar to those used by English painters- such as the use of glazes and impasto made for a dramatic effect in his skies and water. Birch's concern for accuracy involved an initial detailed sketch, brush strokes of color, and then final details would sometimes be inscribed lines done with the pointed end of the brush. He would add highlights of pure color for the final touches.

Birch lived and worked in Philadelphia, but also painted in New Jersey, and Pointe Breeze, the Delaware River estate of Joseph Bonaparte, the exiled king of Naples and Spain. In addition, Birch painted New York Harbor, Cape Henalopen, as well as the Massachusetts and Maine coastlines. Birch's work can be found in many prestigious private and museum collections throughout the United States including: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York; The Historical Society of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia; The Peabody Museum, Salem, MA; New York Historical Society; Detroit Institute of Arts, Detroit; Atwater Kent Museum, Philadelphia; and the Franklin D. Roosevelt Library and Museum, Hyde Park, NY.

References:
Brewington, Dorothy E.R., Dictionary of Marine Artists, Mystic Seaport Museum, Inc., 1982.
Wilmerding, John, American Marine Painting, Harry N. Abrams, Inc., Publisher, New York, 1968.