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{{short description|English portrait and landscape painter (1727–1788)}}
{{Infobox Artist
{{Use British English|date=February 2012}}
| name = <font color=white>Thomas Gainsborough</font color>
{{Use dmy dates|date=October 2018}}
{{Infobox artist
| name = Thomas Gainsborough
| honorific_suffix = {{postnominals|country=GBR|RA|FRSA|size=100%}}
| image = Thomas Gainsborough by Thomas Gainsborough.jpg
| image = Thomas Gainsborough by Thomas Gainsborough.jpg
| imagesize = 250px
| caption = ''Self-portrait'' (1759)
| baptised = {{birth date|df=yes|1727|5|14}}
| caption = Self-portrait, painted 1759
| birth_place = [[Sudbury, Suffolk]], England
| birthname = Thomas Gainsborough
| birthdate = {{birth date|df=yes|1727|5|14}} (baptised)
| death_date = {{Death date and age|df=yes|1788|8|2|1727|5|14}}
| death_place = London, England
| location = [[Sudbury, Suffolk|Sudbury]], [[Suffolk]], England
| field = {{ubl|[[Landscape painting]]|[[Portrait painting]]}}
| deathdate = {{Death date and age|df=yes|1788|8|2|1727|5|14}}
| training = [[Hubert-François Gravelot]], [[Francis Hayman]]
| deathplace =
| nationality = [[English people|English]]
| movement = [[Rococo]]
| field = [[Painting|Painter]]
| spouse = {{marriage|Margaret Burr|1746}}
| training =
| children = 2
| works = ''[[Mr and Mrs Andrews]]''<br />''[[The Blue Boy]]''
| movement =
| resting_place = [[St Anne's Church, Kew]]
| works = [[Mr and Mrs Andrews]]<br>[[The Blue Boy]]
| patrons =
| awards =
}}
}}


'''Thomas Gainsborough''' {{Post-nominals|post-noms=[[List of Royal Academicians|RA]] [[FRSA]]}} ({{IPAc-en|ˈ|g|eɪ|n|z|b|ər|ə}}; 14 May 1727 (baptised) – 2 August 1788) was an English portrait and landscape painter, draughtsman, and printmaker. Along with his rival Sir [[Joshua Reynolds]],<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/art/art-news/9700499/Reynolds-and-Gainsborough-artistic-rivals-reconciliation-revealed-in-Royal-Academy-show.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220112/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/art/art-news/9700499/Reynolds-and-Gainsborough-artistic-rivals-reconciliation-revealed-in-Royal-Academy-show.html |archive-date=12 January 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live |work=[[The Daily Telegraph]] |author=Roya Nikkhah |date=25 November 2012 |title=Reynolds and Gainsborough - artistic rivals' reconciliation revealed in Royal Academy show |access-date=9 October 2018}}{{cbignore}}</ref> he is considered one of the most important British artists of the second half of the 18th century.<ref>{{cite book |page=111 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=u9Et3Te5KqgC&pg=PA111 |title=Masterworks of European Painting in the California Palace of the Legion of Honor
'''Thomas Gainsborough''' (christened 14 May 1727 &ndash; died 2 August 1788) was one of the most famous portrait and landscape [[Painting|painters]] of 18th century [[Kingdom of Great Britain|Britain]].
|author1=Steven A. Nash |author2=Lynn Federle Orr |author3=California Palace of the Legion of Honor |author4=Marion C. Stewart |publisher=Hudson Hills |year=1999|isbn=9781555951825 }}</ref> He painted quickly, and the works of his maturity are characterised by a light palette and easy strokes. Despite being a prolific portrait painter, Gainsborough gained greater satisfaction from his landscapes.<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=LAYaAQAAMAAJ |page=1 |title=Gainsborough's Landscape Drawings |author=Mary Woodall |publisher=Faber & Faber |year=1939}}</ref> He is credited (with [[Richard Wilson (painter)|Richard Wilson]]) as the originator of the 18th-century British landscape school. Gainsborough was a founding member of the [[Royal Academy of Arts|Royal Academy]].


==Life and work==
==Youth and training==
[[File:Thomas Gainsborough - Lady Lloyd and Her Son, Richard Savage Lloyd, of Hintlesham Hall, Suffolk - Google Art Project.jpg|thumbnail|270px|''Lady Lloyd and Her Son, Richard Savage Lloyd, of Hintlesham Hall, Suffolk'' (1745–46), [[Yale Center for British Art]]]]
===Suffolk===
Thomas Gainsborough was born in [[Sudbury, Suffolk|Sudbury]], [[Suffolk]], England.he had a big dick head when he was born His father was a weaver involved with the wool trade. At the age of thirteen he impressed his father with his pencilling skills so that he let him go to London to study art in 1740. In London he first trained under engraver [[Hubert Gravelot]] but eventually became associated with [[William Hogarth]] and his school. One of his mentors was [[Francis Hayman]]. In those years he contributed to the decoration of what is now the [[Thomas Coram Foundation for Children]] and the supper boxes at [[Vauxhall Gardens]].


Gainsborough was born in [[Sudbury, Suffolk|Sudbury]], Suffolk, the youngest son of John Gainsborough, a weaver and maker of woollen goods, and his wife [[Mary Gainsborough|Mary]], sister of the Reverend Humphry Burroughs.<ref name=NGA>{{cite web |url=https://www.nga.gov/collection/artist-info.1329.html |archive-url=https://archive.today/20121213183901/http://www.nga.gov/cgi-bin/tbio?person=11650 |url-status=dead |archive-date=13 December 2012 |title=Thomas Gainsborough |publisher=National Gallery of Art |access-date=10 December 2011 }}</ref> One of Gainsborough's brothers, [[Humphrey Gainsborough|Humphrey]], is said to have invented the method of condensing steam in a separate vessel, which was of great service to [[James Watt]]; another brother, John, was known as ''Scheming Jack'' because of his passion for designing curiosities.<ref>Fulcher, George William, ''Life of Thomas Gainsborough'', London 1856</ref>
[[Image:Mr and Mrs Andrews 1748-49.jpg|thumb|upright=1.35|Gainsborough's ''[[Mr and Mrs Andrews]]'' (1748-49). [[National Gallery, London|National Gallery]], London.]]
In the 1740s, Gainsborough married Margaret Burr, an illegitimate daughter of the [[Henry Scudamore, 3rd Duke of Beaufort|Duke of Beaufort]], who settled a £200 annuity on the couple. The artist's work, then mainly composed of landscape paintings, was not selling very well. He returned to Sudbury in 1748&ndash;1749 and concentrated on the painting of [[portrait]]s.


The artist spent his childhood at what is now [[Gainsborough's House]], on Gainsborough Street, Sudbury. He later resided there following the death of his father in 1748 and before his move to Ipswich.<ref>{{Cite book|title=The dictionary of art (volume 11 Ferrara-Gainsborough)|date=1996|publisher=Grove|others=Turner, Jane, 1956-|isbn=978-1884446009|location=New York|pages=907|oclc=34409675}}</ref> The building is now a house-museum dedicated to his life and art.
In 1752, he and his family, now including two daughters, moved to [[Ipswich]]. Commissions for personal portraits increased, but his clientele included mainly local merchants and squires. He had to borrow against his wife's annuity.

As a boy he demonstrated impressive drawing and painting skills. At the age of ten he was painting heads and small landscapes, including a miniature self-portrait.<ref>Conrad, Stephen, "Thomas Gainsborough's First Self-portrait", ''The British Art Journal'', Vol. XII, No. 1, Summer 2011, pp. 52–59</ref> Gainsborough left home in 1740 to study art in London, where he trained under engraver [[Hubert-François Gravelot|Hubert Gravelot]]<ref name="NGA" /> but became associated with [[William Hogarth]] and his school. He assisted [[Francis Hayman]] in decorating the supper boxes at [[Vauxhall Gardens]].<ref name="NGA" />

==Career==
===Suffolk===
In 1746, Gainsborough married Margaret Burr, an illegitimate daughter of the [[Henry Scudamore, 3rd Duke of Beaufort|Duke of Beaufort]], who had settled a £200 annuity on her. The artist's work, then mostly consisting of landscape paintings, was not selling well. He returned to Sudbury in 1748–1749 and concentrated on painting portraits.<ref name="MMA">{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=FZzL3ey6gDYC&pg=PA92 |page=92 |title=British Paintings in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1575-1875 |publisher=Metropolitan Museum of Art |location=New York, N.Y. |author=Katharine Baetjer |year=2009|isbn=9781588393487 }}</ref>
While still in Suffolk, Gainsborough painted a portrait of ''The Rev. John Chafy Playing the Violoncello in a Landscape'' (c. 1750–1752; Tate Gallery, London).<ref>[https://www.tate.org.uk/art/artworks/gainsborough-the-rev-john-chafy-playing-the-violoncello-in-a-landscape-t03895 Tate Gallery website]. Retrieved 3 November 2021.</ref>

In 1752, he and his family, now including two daughters, Mary ("Molly", 1750–1826) and Margaret ("Peggy", 1751–1820),<ref name="JH2017">{{cite book |last=Hamilton |first=James |author-link= |date=2017-07-13|title=Gainsborough: A Portrait |url= |location= |publisher=W&N |page= |isbn=978-1474600521}}</ref> moved to Ipswich. Commissions for portraits increased, but his clients included mainly local merchants and squires. He had to borrow against his wife's annuity.<ref name="MMA"/> Toward the end of his time in Ipswich, he painted a self-portrait,<ref>{{Cite news |url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/suffolk/content/articles/2009/04/02/gainsborough_self_portrait_feature.shtml |title=The boy is back in town |work=BBC Suffolk}}</ref> now in the permanent collection of the [[National Portrait Gallery, London]].<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.npg.org.uk/collections/search/portrait/mw02381/Thomas-Gainsborough |title=Thomas Gainsborough |work=National Portrait Gallery}}</ref>
<gallery widths="160px" heights="160px" perrow="3" caption="The artist's family and self-portrait">
File:Margaret Burr (1728-1797), Mrs Thomas Gainsborough by Thomas Gainsborough.jpg|''Margaret Burr'' (1728–1797), the artist's wife, {{circa}} early 1770s
File:Thomas Gainsborough 024.jpg|''Self-Portrait'' (1754)
File:Thomas Gainsborough 017.jpg|''The Artist's Daughters'' ({{circa|1759|lk=no}})
</gallery>


===Bath===
===Bath===
[[Image:Thomas Gainsborough 008.jpg|thumb|upright|''[[The Blue Boy]]'' (1770). The Huntington, California.]]
[[File:Portrait of Ann Ford (Gainsborough).jpg|thumb|upright|''[[Anne Ford|Ann Ford]]'' (later Mrs. Philip Thicknesse), 1760, [[Cincinnati Art Museum]]]]
[[File:The Blue Boy.jpg|thumb|upright|''[[The Blue Boy]]'' (1770). [[Huntington Library]], San Marino, California]]
In 1759, Gainsborough and his family moved to [[Bath, Somerset|Bath]]. There, he studied portraits by [[van Dyck]] and was eventually able to attract a better-paying high society clientele. In 1761, he began to send work to the Society of Arts exhibition in London (now the [[Royal Society of Arts]], of which he was one of the earliest members); and from 1769 on, he submitted works to the [[Royal Academy]]'s annual exhibitions. He selected portraits of well-known or notorious clients in order to attract attention. These exhibitions helped him acquire a national reputation, and he was invited to become one of the founding members of the Royal Academy in 1769. His relationship with the academy, however, was not an easy one and he stopped exhibiting his paintings there in 1773.
In 1759, Gainsborough and his family moved to [[Bath, Somerset|Bath]], living at number 17 [[The Circus, Bath|The Circus]].<ref>{{cite book|last=Greenwood|first=Charles|title=Famous houses of the West Country|year=1977|publisher=Kingsmead Press|location=Bath|isbn=978-0-901571-87-8|pages=84–86}}</ref> There, he studied portraits by [[Anthony van Dyck|van Dyck]] and was eventually able to attract a fashionable clientele. In 1761, he began to send work to the Society of Arts exhibition in London (now the [[Royal Academy of Arts|Royal Society of Arts]], of which he was one of the earliest members); and from 1769 he submitted works to the [[Royal Academy of Arts|Royal Academy]]'s annual exhibitions. The exhibitions helped him enhance his reputation, and he was invited to become a founding member of the Royal Academy in 1769. His relationship with the academy was not an easy one and he stopped exhibiting his paintings in 1773.

Despite Gainsborough's increasing popularity and success in painting portraits for fashionable society, he expressed frustration during his Bath period at the demands of such work and that it prevented him from pursuing his preferred artistic interests. In a letter to a friend in the 1760s Gainsborough wrote: "I'm sick of Portraits and wish very much to take my [[Viol|Viol da Gamba]] and walk off to some sweet Village where I can paint Landskips [landscapes] and enjoy the fag End of Life in quietness and ease".<ref>Letter to William Jackson, from Bath, dated 4 June (but without the year), in M. Woodall (ed.), ''The Letters of Thomas Gainsborough'' (London, 1961), p. 115.</ref> Of the men he had to deal with as patrons and admirers, and their pretensions, he wrote:<blockquote>... damn Gentlemen, there is not such a set of Enemies to a real artist in the world as they are, if not kept at a proper distance. They think ... that they reward your merit by their Company & notice; but I ... know that they have but one part worth looking at, and that is their Purse; their Hearts are seldom near enough the right place to get a sight of it.<ref>Letter to William Jackson, from Bath, dated 2 September 1767, in M. Woodall (ed.), ''The Letters of Thomas Gainsborough'' (London, 1961), p. 101.</ref></blockquote>Gainsborough was so keen a viol da gamba player that he had at this stage five of the instruments, three made by Henry Jaye and two by [[Barak Norman]].<ref>Letter to William Jackson, from Bath, dated 4 June (but without the year), in M. Woodall (ed.), ''The Letters of Thomas Gainsborough'' (London, 1961), p. 115: "My comfort is, I have 5 Viols da Gamba, 3 Jayes and two Barak Normans."</ref>


===London===
===London===
[[File:Thomas Gainsborough, Frances Browne, Mrs John Douglas (1746 - 1811), 1783-84 at Waddesdon Manor.jpg|thumb|upright|''Frances Browne, Mrs John Douglas (1746–1811)'', 1783–84, [[Waddesdon Manor]]]]
In 1774, Gainsborough and his family moved to London to live in [[Schomberg House]], [[Pall Mall, London|Pall Mall]]. In 1777, he again began to exhibit his paintings at the Royal Academy, including portraits of contemporary celebrities, such as the Duke and Duchess of Cumberland. Exhibitions of his work continued for the next six years.
In 1774, Gainsborough and his family moved to London to live in [[Schomberg House]], Pall Mall.<ref name="NGA" /><ref>{{openplaque|2}}</ref> A commemorative [[blue plaque]] was put on the house in 1951.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://openplaques.org/plaques/2 | title=Thomas Gainsborough Blue Plaque | publisher=openplaques.org | access-date=13 May 2013 | url-status=live | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120723162818/http://openplaques.org/plaques/2 | archive-date=23 July 2012 | df=dmy-all }}</ref> In 1777, he again began to exhibit his paintings at the Royal Academy, including portraits of contemporary celebrities, such as the Duke and Duchess of Cumberland. Exhibitions of his work continued for the next six years. About this time, Gainsborough began experimenting with [[printmaking]] using the then-novel techniques of [[aquatint]] and [[soft-ground etching]].<ref name="Rosenthal_Oxford">Rosenthal, Michael. "Gainsborough, Thomas". ''Grove Art Online. Oxford Art Online''. Oxford University Press. Web.</ref>
[[File:Thomas Gainsborough (English - Portrait of Anne, Countess of Chesterfield - Google Art Project.jpg|thumb|upright|''[[Portrait of Anne, Countess of Chesterfield]]'' (1777–78), [[J. Paul Getty Museum]]. His later pictures are characterised by a light palette and easy strokes.]]


During the 1770s and 1780s Gainsborough developed a type of portrait in which he integrated the sitter into the landscape. An example of this is his portrait of Frances Browne, Mrs John Douglas (1746–1811) which can be seen at [[Waddesdon Manor]]. The sitter has withdrawn to a secluded and overgrown corner of a garden to read a letter, her pose recalling the traditional representation of Melancholy. Gainsborough emphasised the relationship between Mrs Douglas and her environment by painting the clouds behind her and the drapery billowing across her lap with similar silvery violet tones and fluid brushstrokes. This portrait was included in his first private exhibition at Schomberg House in 1784.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://collection.waddesdon.org.uk/search.do?view=detail&page=1&id=41329&db=object&_ga=1.214042711.1325358531.1459762060|title=Search Results|website=collection.waddesdon.org.uk|language=en|access-date=12 April 2017|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170412224652/http://collection.waddesdon.org.uk/search.do?view=detail&page=1&id=41329&db=object&_ga=1.214042711.1325358531.1459762060|archive-date=12 April 2017}}</ref>
[[Image:Mr and Mrs William Hallett.jpg|thumb|upright|''Mr and Mrs William Hallett'' (1785).]]
In 1780, he painted the portraits of King [[George III of the United Kingdom|George III]] and his queen and afterwards received many royal commissions. This gave him some influence with the Academy and allowed him to dictate the manner in which he wished his work to be exhibited. However, in 1783, he removed his paintings from the forthcoming exhibition and transferred them to Schomberg House.


In 1776, Gainsborough painted a portrait of [[Johann Christian Bach]],<ref name="JCBach">{{cite web |url=https://www.npg.org.uk/collections/search/portrait/mw07058/Johann-Christian-Bach |work=[[National Portrait Gallery, London|National Portrait Gallery]] |title=Johann Christian Bach |access-date=3 September 2018}}</ref> the youngest son of [[Johann Sebastian Bach]].<ref name="Burnett">{{cite book |last=Bagnoli |first=Giorgio |title=The La Scala Encyclopedia of the Opera |year=1993 |isbn=9780671870423 |publisher=Simon and Schuster |page=38 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=FUJ0bvo6rQIC&pg=PA38}}</ref> Bach's former teacher [[Padre Martini]] of Bologna, Italy, was assembling a collection of portraits of musicians, and Bach asked Gainsborough to paint his portrait as part of this collection.<ref name="JCBach"/> The portrait now hangs in the [[National Portrait Gallery, London|National Portrait Gallery]] in London.<ref name="JCBach"/>
In 1784, royal painter [[Allan Ramsay (1713–1784)|Allan Ramsay]] died and the King was obliged to give the job to Gainsborough's rival and Academy president, [[Joshua Reynolds]], however Gainsborough remained the Royal Family's favorite painter. At his own express wish, he was buried at St. Anne's Church, [[Kew]], where the Family regularly worshipped.


In 1780, he painted the portraits of King [[George III]] and [[Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz|Queen Charlotte]] and afterwards received other royal commissions. In February 1780, his daughter Molly was married to his musician friend [[Johann Christian Fischer]], to Gainsborough's dismay, as he realized that Fischer was forming an attachment to Molly while carrying on flirtation with Peggy.<ref name="JH2017"/> The marriage between Molly and Fischer lasted only eight months, owing to their discord and Fischer's deceit.<ref name="JH2017"/>
In his later years, Gainsborough often painted relatively simple, ordinary landscapes. With [[Richard Wilson (painter)|Richard Wilson]], he was one of the originators of the eighteenth-century British landscape school; though simultaneously, in conjunction with Joshua Reynolds, he was the dominant British [[portraitist]] of the second half of the 18th century.


In 1784, Principal Painter in Ordinary [[Allan Ramsay (artist)|Allan Ramsay]] died and the King was obliged to give the job to Gainsborough's rival and Academy president, [[Joshua Reynolds]]. Gainsborough remained the royal family's favourite painter, however.
He died of [[cancer]] on 2 August 1788 at the age of 61.

In his later years, Gainsborough often painted landscapes. With [[Richard Wilson (painter)|Richard Wilson]], he was one of the originators of the eighteenth-century British landscape school; though simultaneously, in conjunction with Reynolds, he was the dominant British portraitist of the second half of the 18th century.

William Jackson in his contemporary essays said of him "to his intimate friends he was sincere and honest and that his heart was always alive to every feeling of honour and generosity".<ref>{{cite book |title=The Four Ages including essays on various subjects |last=Jackson |first=William |publisher=Cadell & Davies |year=1798 |url=https://archive.org/stream/fouragestogethe00jackgoog#page/n175/mode/2up |page=161 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160410211916/https://archive.org/stream/fouragestogethe00jackgoog#page/n175/mode/2up |archive-date=10 April 2016 }}</ref> Gainsborough did not particularly enjoy reading but letters written to his friends were penned in such an exceptional conversational manner that the style could not be equalled.<ref>{{cite book |title=The Four Ages including essays on various subjects |last=Jackson |first=William |publisher=Cadell & Davies |year=1798 |url=https://archive.org/stream/fouragestogethe00jackgoog#page/n175/mode/2up |page=183 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160410211916/https://archive.org/stream/fouragestogethe00jackgoog#page/n175/mode/2up |archive-date=10 April 2016 }}</ref> As a letter writer [[Sir Henry Dudley, 1st Baronet|Henry Bate-Dudley]] said of him "a selection of his letters would offer the world as much originality and beauty as is ever traced in his paintings".<ref>Woodall, Mary, Introduction to ''The Letters of Thomas Gainborough'', Cupid Press, London, 1963</ref>

In the 1780s, Gainsborough used a device he called a "Showbox" to compose landscapes and display them backlit on glass. The original box is on display in the [[Victoria and Albert Museum|Victoria & Albert Museum]] with a reproduction transparency.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.vam.ac.uk/content/articles/g/gainsboroughs_showbox/|title=Gainsborough's Showbox|website=www.vam.ac.uk|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110802172921/http://www.vam.ac.uk/content/articles/g/gainsboroughs_showbox/|archive-date=2 August 2011|date=2011-07-12}}</ref>

He died of cancer on 2 August 1788 at the age of 61. According to his daughter Peggy, his last words were "[[van Dyck]]".<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b0902rn5|title=Episode 5, Gainsborough, Book of the Week - BBC Radio 4|website=BBC|access-date=30 April 2018|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170814223911/http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b0902rn5|archive-date=14 August 2017}}</ref> He is interred in the churchyard [[St Anne's Church, Kew]], Surrey, (located on Kew Green). It was his express wish to be buried near his friend [[Joshua Kirby]]. Later his wife and nephew [[Gainsborough Dupont]] were interred with him. Coincidentally [[Johan Zoffany]] and [[Franz Bauer]] are also buried in the graveyard. In 2011, an appeal was given to pay the costs of restoration of his tomb, and the tomb was restored in 2012.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.yourlocalguardian.co.uk/yoursay/yournews/richmond/8894394.Restoration_of_Thomas_Gainsborough_s_tomb/|title=Restoration of Thomas Gainsborough's tomb|date=7 March 2011|access-date=1 December 2011|work=Richmond Guardian|location=London|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120118174242/http://www.yourlocalguardian.co.uk/yoursay/yournews/richmond/8894394.Restoration_of_Thomas_Gainsborough_s_tomb/|archive-date=18 January 2012}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.minervaconservation.com/monuments/gainsborough |access-date=2023-12-16 |website=www.minervaconservation.com}}</ref> A street in Kew, Gainsborough Road, is named after him.<ref>{{cite book|last=Dunbar | first=Janet | title=A Prospect of Richmond | publisher=George Harrap | edition= 1977 | pages=199–209 }}</ref>


==Technique==
==Technique==
[[File:Girl with Pigs by Thomas Gainsborough.jpg|thumb|upright|''Girl with Pigs'', 1781–82, private collection, was said by Sir Joshua Reynolds to be "the best picture he ever painted".<ref name=Willes/>]]
[[Image:Gainsborough-Mrs. Thomas Hibbert.jpg|thumb|upright|''Mrs Thomas Hibbert''. [[Neue Pinakothek]].]]
Gainsborough painted more from his observations of nature (and human nature) than from any application of formal academic rules. The poetic sensibility of his paintings caused [[John Constable|Constable]] to say, "On looking at them, we find tears in our eyes and know not what brings them." He himself said, "I'm sick of portraits, and wish very much to take my viol-da-gam and walk off to some sweet village, where I can paint landskips ''(sic)'' and enjoy the fag end of life in quietness and ease."
The art historian [[Michael Rosenthal]] described Gainsborough as "one of the most technically proficient and, at the same time, most experimental artists of his time".<ref name="Rosenthal_Oxford"/> He was noted for the speed with which he applied paint, and he worked more from observations of nature (and of human nature) than from application of formal academic rules.<ref name="Rosenthal_Oxford"/> The poetic sensibility of his paintings caused [[John Constable|Constable]] to say, "On looking at them, we find tears in our eyes and know not what brings them."


Gainsborough's enthusiasm for landscapes is shown in the way he merged figures of the portraits with the scenes behind them. His landscapes were often painted at night by candlelight, using a tabletop arrangement of stones, pieces of mirrors, broccoli, and the like as a model.<ref name="Rosenthal_Oxford"/> His later work was characterised by a light palette and easy, economical strokes.<ref>{{cite book | last1 = Birmingham Museum of Art | title = Birmingham Museum of Art: A Guide to the Collection | publisher = Giles | year = 2010 | location = London | pages = 80 | url = http://www.birminghammuseumstore.org/bmapu.html | access-date = 24 June 2011 | isbn = 978-1-904832-77-5 | url-status = dead | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20110910171150/http://www.birminghammuseumstore.org/bmapu.html | archive-date = 10 September 2011 | df = dmy-all }}</ref>
His most famous works, such as ''Portrait of Mrs. Graham''; ''Mary and Margaret: The Painter's Daughters''; ''William Hallett and His Wife Elizabeth, nee Stephen'', known as ''The Morning Walk''; and ''Cottage Girl with Dog and Pitcher'', display the unique individuality of his subjects.


Gainsborough's only known assistant was his nephew, Gainsborough Dupont.
Gainsborough's only known assistant was his nephew, [[Gainsborough Dupont]].<ref name=NGA/>


==In Fiction==
==Reputation==


[[File:Thomas Gainsborough - The Honourable Mrs Graham (1757 - 1792) - Google Art Project.jpg|thumb|upright|''[[Portrait of Mrs Mary Graham]]'' (1777) [[Scottish National Gallery]]]]
* [[Kitty (1945 film)|Kitty]] (1945) is a notable fictional film about Gainsborough, portrayed by [[Cecil Kellaway]].
[[File:Thomas Gainsborough 001.jpg|thumb|upright|''[[The Harvest Wagon]]'' (1767)]]
* Gainsborough has an important posthumous role in the [[alternate history]] novel [[The Two Georges]] by [[Harry Turtledove]].
[[File:Mrs. Ralph Izard (Alice De Lancey, 1746-47–1832) MET DP162167.jpg|thumb|upright|[[Alice De Lancey Izard]] (between 1747 and 1788) [[Metropolitan Museum of Art]]]]
His more famous works, ''[[The Blue Boy]]''; ''[[Mr and Mrs Andrews]]''; ''[[Portrait of Mrs Mary Graham|Portrait of Mrs. Graham]]''; ''Mary and Margaret: The Painter's Daughters''; ''William Hallett and His Wife Elizabeth, nee Stephen'', known as ''[[Mr and Mrs William Hallett|The Morning Walk]]''; and ''Cottage Girl with Dog and Pitcher'', display the unique individuality of his subjects.
His rival, [[Joshua Reynolds]] wrote that the painting ''Girl with Pigs'' was "the best picture he (Gainsborough) ever painted or perhaps ever will".<ref name="Willes">Willes, F.W. Letters of Joshua Reynolds, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge 1929</ref>


Gainsborough's works became popular with collectors from the 1850s on, after [[Lionel de Rothschild]] began buying his portraits. The rapid rise in the value of pictures by Gainsborough and also by Reynolds in the mid 19th century was partly because the Rothschild family, including [[Ferdinand de Rothschild]] began collecting them.<ref>Hall, M. ''Waddesdon Manor: The Heritage of a Rothschild House'', Scala, London, 2009, p. 77</ref>
== Gallery of selected works ==


In 2011, Gainsborough's portrait of ''Miss Read'' (Mrs Frances Villebois) was sold by [[Michael Pearson, 4th Viscount Cowdray]], for a record price of £6.54M, at Christie's in London.<ref>{{cite web| url = https://www.christies.com/lotfinder/Lot/thomas-gainsborough-ra-sudbury-suffolk-1727-1788-london-5460654-details.aspx| title = Christie's}}</ref> She was a matrilineal descendant of [[Cecily Neville, Duchess of York]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.le.ac.uk/richardiii/science/familytree.html|title=Richard III – Family tree – Ann of York – Michael Ibsen – University of Leicester|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150120101651/http://www.le.ac.uk/richardiii/science/familytree.html|archive-date=20 January 2015}}</ref><ref name="Fig1">{{Cite journal|title=Figure 1: Genealogical links between Richard III and modern-day relatives who participated in this study.|pages=5631|journal=Nature Communications|volume=5|author=Turi E. King|doi=10.1038/ncomms6631|pmid=25463651|pmc=4268703|date=2014|display-authors=etal}}</ref>
<gallery>


==Popular culture==
Image:Gainsborough - The Painters Daughters Chasing a Butterfly.jpg|The Painter`s Daughters Chasing a Butterfly
* Gainsborough's portrait ''[[The Blue Boy]]'' is shown in the 1988 comedy movie ''[[The Naked Gun: From the Files of Police Squad!]]'' in the office of the antagonist, Mr Ludwig.
Image:Thomas Gainsborough 026.jpg|Landscape in Suffolk (1748)
* [[Cecil Beaton]]'s play ''Gainsborough's Girls'' is set in London in 1774 when the painter moved his family to the capital. Previously unpublished, it received its first performance in [[Sudbury, Suffolk]] in 2019, followed by a short run at the Tower Theatre, London.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.towertheatre.org.uk/ggirls.htm |title=Tower Theatre Company : Gainsborough's Girls |access-date=24 April 2019 |archive-date=24 April 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190424090731/http://www.towertheatre.org.uk/ggirls.htm |url-status=dead }}</ref>
Image:Thomas Gainsborough 025.jpg|Sunset (1760)
* [[Simon Edge]]'s comic novel ''A Right Royal Face-Off'' focuses on Gainsborough's relationship with King George III and his family, and his rivalry with [[Joshua Reynolds]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://eye-books.com/books/a-right-royal-face-off|title = A Right Royal Face-Off by Simon Edge &#124; Eye Books}}</ref>
Image:Thomas Gainsborough 017.jpg|Two Daughters with a Cat (c. 1759)
* [[Stanley Kubrick]] was inspired by Gainsborough's paintings, amongst other artists of the 18th century, in creating the look and mannerisms for his 1975 film [[Barry Lyndon]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=The English paintings that inspired Stanley Kubrick {{!}} art {{!}} Agenda {{!}} Phaidon |url=https://www.phaidon.com/agenda/art/articles/2017/july/26/the-english-paintings-that-inspired-stanley-kubrick/ |access-date=2022-10-15 |website=www.phaidon.com |archive-date=15 October 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221015053612/https://www.phaidon.com/agenda/art/articles/2017/july/26/the-english-paintings-that-inspired-stanley-kubrick/ |url-status=dead }}</ref>
Image:Thomas Gainsborough 019.jpg|The Artist`s Daughters, Molly and Peggy (1760)
* Gainsborough's portrait ''[[Mr and Mrs William Hallett|The Morning Walk (Portrait of Mr and Mrs William Hallett)]]'' is clearly visible over actor [[Daniel Craig]]'s shoulder during a scene in the 2012 [[James Bond]] film ''[[Skyfall]]'' set in the [[National Gallery]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2017/mar/28/gainsborough-painting-mr-mrs-william-hallett-morning-walk-restored-rehung-national-gallery|title = Gainsborough painting restored and rehung after 'drill-bit attack'|website = [[TheGuardian.com]]|date = 28 March 2017}}</ref>
Image:Thomas Gainsborough 012.jpg|Gainsborough`s Daughter Mary (1777)
* Gainsborough (played by [[Cecil Kellaway]]) performs a vital role in the 1945 film ''[[Kitty (1945 film)|Kitty]]''; saving the eponymous heroine from prison sets the plot, based on [[Pygmalion (play)|Pygmalion]], in motion.
Image:GAINSBOROUGH River Landscape.jpg|River Landscape
* Gainsborough's portrait ''The Gravenor Family'' was cut and pasted into the sleeve of the 1983 [[Electric Light Orchestra]] album ''[[Secret Messages]]''.
Image:Thomas Gainsborough 024.jpg|Self-Portrait (1754)
* Gainsborough's portrait ''[[Cornard Wood, near Sudbury, Suffolk]]'' is referenced in the first season of the 2024 [[Netflix]] show [[The Gentlemen (2024 TV series)|The Gentlemen]].
Image:Gainsb7.jpg|Lady in Blue (c. 1770)

Image:Karl Friedrich Abel by Thomas Gainsborough.jpg|Portrait of the Composer Carl Friedrich Abel with his Viola da Gamba (c. 1765)
==Gallery==
Image:Thomas Gainsboroguh Georgiana Duchess of Devonshire 1783.jpg|Georgiana, Duchess of Devonshire (1783)
<gallery widths="220" heights="168" perrow="4" caption="Portraits">
Image:Thomas Gainsborough 023.jpg|Self-Portrait (1787)
File:Thomas Gainsborough - Clayton Jones - Google Art Project.jpg|''Clayton Jones'' (1745), [[Yale Center for British Art]]
Image:4thDukeOfArgyll.jpg|John Campbell, 4th Duke of Argyll (1767)
Image:Thomas Gainsborough Lady Georgiana Cavendish.jpg|Lady Georgiana Cavendish, Duchess of Devonshire
File:Thomas Gainsborough - Conversation in a Park - WGA8400.jpg|''Conversation in a Park'' (1746), [[Louvre]]
Image:Thomas Gainsborough 014.jpg|Mrs. Richard B. Sheridan (1785-86)
File:Thomas Gainsborough - Portrait of a Woman - Google Art Project.jpg|''Portrait of a Woman'' (1750), Yale Center for British Art
Image:Thomas Gainsborough 005.jpg|Cottage Girl with Dog and pitcher (1785)
File:Thomas Gainsborough - Portrait of John Plampin (1752).jpg|''Portrait of John Plampin'' (1752), [[National Gallery]]
File:Thomas Gainsborough - The Gravenor Family - Google Art Project.jpg|''The Gravenor Family'' (1754), Yale Center for British Art
File:File-Gainsborough - The Painters Daughters Chasing a ButterflyHD.jpg|''[[The Painter's Daughters Chasing a Butterfly]]'' (1756), National Gallery
File:Thomas Gainsborough - A Man Called Mr. Wood, the Dancing Master - Google Art Project.jpg|''A Man Called Mr. Wood, the Dancing Master'' (1757), Yale Center for British Art
File:Thomas Gainsborough - Mary Little, Later Lady Carr - Google Art Project.jpg|''Mary Little, Later Lady Carr'' ({{circa|1763|lk=no}}), Yale Center for British Art
File:Portrait of the Artist's Daughters, probably early 1760s, by Thomas Gainsborough (1727-1788) - IMG 7281.JPG|''Portrait of the Artist's Daughters'', 1763–64 [[Worcester Art Museum]]
File:Karl Friedrich Abel by Thomas Gainsborough.jpg|''Portrait of the Composer [[Carl Friedrich Abel]] with his Viola da Gamba'' ({{circa|1765|lk=no}}), [[National Portrait Gallery, London|National Portrait Gallery]]
File:Theodosia Meade, Countess of Clanwilliam, (Miss Hawkins-Magill), by Thomas Gainsborough, 50 x 40 inches.jpg|[[Theodosia Meade, Countess of Clanwilliam]] (Miss Hawkins-Magill), 1765
File:Thomas Gainsborough - Portrait of Joshua Grigby.jpg|''The lawyer [[Joshua Grigby]] III'' (1760/1765), {{lang|de|[[Gemäldegalerie, Berlin|Gemäldegalerie]]|italic=no}}
File:Portrait of Francis Bennett by Thomas Gainsborough.jpg|''Portrait of Francis Bennett'' (1766), private collection
File:Mrs Edmund Morton Pleydell, by Thomas Gainsborough-18th-century-fashion.jpg|Mrs Edmund Morton Pleydell c. 1765
File:Gainsborough - Elizabeth Montagu, Duchess of Buccleuch (1743-827).jpg|''[[Elizabeth Scott, Duchess of Buccleuch (1743–1827)|Lady Elizabeth Montagu, Duchess of Buccleuch and Queensberry]]'' ({{circa|1767|lk=no}}), [[Boughton House]]
File:Ignatius Sancho, 1768.jpg|''Portrait of [[Ignatius Sancho]]'' (1768), [[National Gallery of Canada]]
File:Thomas Gainsborough - Sir Robert Clayton - Google Art Project.jpg|''Sir Robert Clayton'' (1769), [[Walker Art Gallery]]
File:David Garrick by Thomas Gainsborough.jpg|''[[Portrait of David Garrick]]'' (1770), [[National Portrait Gallery, London]]
File:Maria, Lady Eardley (1743-1794) (Thomas Gainsborough) - Nationalmuseum - 22943.tif|''[[Maria, Lady Eardley]]'' ({{circa|1770|lk=no}}) [[Nationalmuseum]]
File:Gainsborough, Thomas - Elizabeth and Mary Linley - Google Art Project.jpg|''The Linley Sisters'' (1772), [[Dulwich Picture Gallery]]
File:Johann Christian Bach by Thomas Gainsborough.jpg|''[[Johann Christian Bach]]'' (1776), National Portrait Gallery, London
File:Thomas Gainsborough 012.jpg|''Gainsborough`s Daughter Mary'' (1777), [[Tate Britain]]
File:The Hon. Mrs. Thomas Graham.jpg|''The Hon. Mrs. Thomas "Mary" Graham'' ({{circa|1775|lk=no}}–77), [[National Gallery of Art]]
File:Thomas Gainsborough - The Honourable Mrs Graham (1757 - 1792) - Google Art Project.jpg|''[[Portrait of Mrs Mary Graham]]'' (1777), [[Scottish National Gallery]] (wearing Jacobean inspired gown)
File:The Hon. Frances Duncombe - Gainsborough c. 1777.jpg|The Hon. Frances Duncombe (c. 1777)
File:Gainsborough - Grace Dalrymple Elliott.jpg|''[[Grace Elliott|Mrs. Grace Dalrymple Elliott]]'' (1778), [[Metropolitan Museum of Art]]
File:Thomas Gainsborough (English - Portrait of James Christie (1730 - 1803) - Google Art Project.jpg|''Portrait of [[James Christie (auctioneer)|James Christie]]'' (1778), [[J. Paul Getty Museum]]
File:Gainsborough, Thomas - Philippe Jacques de Loutherbourg - Google Art Project.jpg|''[[Portrait of Philip James de Loutherbourg]]'' (1778), [[Dulwich Picture Gallery]]
File:Portrait of Margaret Gainsborough - Thomas Gainsborough.jpg|''Portrait of Margaret Gainsborough'' (1778), [[Courtauld Gallery]]
File:Colonel John Bullock.jpg|''[[John Bullock (1731–1809)|Colonel John Bullock]]'' ({{circa|1780|lk=no}}), [[Blanton Museum of Art]]
File:Thomas Gainsborough - An officer of the 4th Regiment of Foot - Google Art Project.jpg|''An officer of the 4th Regiment of Foot'' ({{circa|1776|lk=no}}–1780), [[National Gallery of Victoria]]
File:Thomas Gainsborough - Portrait of a Lady in Blue - WGA8414.jpg|''[[Woman in Blue|Lady in Blue]]'' ({{circa|1780|lk=no}}), [[Hermitage Museum]]
File:Thomas Gainsborough - Madame Lebrun - Google Art Project.jpg|''[[Francesca Lebrun|Madame Lebrun]]'' (1780), [[Art Gallery of South Australia]]
File:Thomas gainsborough, sir henry bate-dudley, 1780 ca. 02.jpg|Sir Henry Bate-Dudley, 1780
File:Queen Charlotte - Gainsborough 1781.jpg|''[[Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz|Queen Charlotte]]'' ({{circa|1781|lk=no}}) [[Royal Collection]]
File:Thomas Gainsborough, Giovanna Baccelli. Oil on canvas, c.. 1782. Tate.jpg|''Portrait of [[Giovanna Baccelli]]'' ({{circa|1782|lk=no}}), Tate Britain
File:John Montagu, 4th Earl of Sandwich.jpg|''[[Portrait of the Earl of Sandwich]]'' (1783), [[National Maritime Museum]]
File:Admiral of the White by Thomas Gainsborough.jpg|''[[Portrait of Admiral Rodney]]'' (1783), Private Collection
File:Lord Cornwallis.jpg|''[[Portrait of Lord Cornwallis]]'' (1783), [[National Portrait Gallery, London|National Portrait Gallery]]
File:Thomas Gainsborough 015.jpg|''Mrs. [[Sarah Siddons]]'' (1785), National Gallery
File:Thomas Gainsborough - Mr and Mrs William Hallett ('The Morning Walk') - WGA8418.jpg|''[[Mr and Mrs William Hallett|The Morning Walk]]'' (1785), National Gallery
File:Thomas Gainsborough 005.jpg|''The Cottage Girl'' (1785), [[National Gallery of Ireland]]
File:Lady Sheffield by Gainsborough.jpg|''Portrait of Sophia Charlotte Digby, Lady Sheffield'', ({{circa|1785|lk=no}}–86), [[Waddesdon Manor]]
File:Thomas Gainsborough - The Marsham Children - Google Art Project.jpg|''The Marsham Children'' (1787), {{lang|de|[[Gemäldegalerie, Berlin|Gemäldegalerie]]|italic=no}}
File:Thomas Gainsborough Lady Georgiana Cavendish.jpg|''[[Portrait of Georgiana, Duchess of Devonshire]]'' (1787), [[Chatsworth House]]
File:Thomas Gainsborough - Mrs. Richard Brinsley Sheridan .jpg|''[[Mrs. Richard Brinsley Sheridan (painting)|Mrs Richard Brinsley Sheridan]]'' (1787), [[National Gallery of Art]]
</gallery>
</gallery>


<gallery widths="220" heights="168" perrow="4" caption="Landscapes">
==See also==
File:Cornard Wood.png|''[[Cornard Wood, near Sudbury, Suffolk]]'' (1748), National Gallery
File:Thomas Gainsborough - Landscape in Suffolk - Google Art Project.jpg|''Landscape in Suffolk'' (1748), [[Kunsthistorisches Museum]]
File:Thomas Gainsborough - Holywells Park, Ipswich.jpg|''Holywells Park, Ipswich'' ({{circa|1748}}–50), [[Christchurch Mansion]]
File:Thomas Gainsborough - Mr and Mrs Andrews.jpg|''[[Mr and Mrs Andrews]]'' ({{circa|1750}}), National Gallery
File:Thomas Gainsborough - Landscape with Stream and Weir - Google Art Project.jpg|''Landscape with Stream and Weir'' ({{circa|1750}}–53), Yale Center for British Art
File:Thomas Gainsborough - Hilly Landscape with Figures Approaching a Bridge - Google Art Project.jpg|''Hilly Landscape with Figures Approaching a Bridge'' ({{circa|1763}}), watercolour, Yale Center for British Art
File:Thomas Gainsborough - Road from Market - Google Art Project.jpg|''Road from Market'' ({{circa|1767}}–68), [[Toledo Museum of Art]]
File:Thomas Gainsborough - The Mall in St. James's Park - Google Art Project.jpg|''The Mall in St. James's Park'' (1783), [[Frick Collection]]
File:Thomas Gainsborough - Coastal Landscape with a Shepherd and His Flock - Google Art Project.jpg|''Coastal Landscape with a Shepherd and His Flock'' ({{circa|1783}}–84), Yale Center for British Art
File:Gainsborough-HarvestWagon1784.jpg|''[[The Harvest Wagon]]'' (1784), [[Art Gallery of Ontario]]
File:Thomas Gainsborough 002.jpg|''[[The Market Cart]]'' (1786), National Gallery
File:Thomas Gainsborough - Cattle Watering by a Stream - Google Art Project.jpg|''River Landscape'' (undated), Yale Center for British Art
</gallery>


==See also==
* [[English school of painting]]
* [[British art]]
* [[Gainsborough's House]]
* [[List of British painters]]
* [[Fancy picture]]
* [[Rococo]]
* [[Humphrey Gainsborough]]
* [[Humphrey Gainsborough]]
* [[Holywells Park, Ipswich]]
* [[Holywells Park]]
* [[:category:Thomas Gainsborough paintings|Gainsborough paintings]]
* [[Western painting]]


==Further reading==
==Further reading==
* ''Thomas Gainsborough'', William T. Whitley, (John Murray, 1915)
* ''Gainsborough'', [[Ellis Waterhouse]], (Edward Hulton, 1958) – the standard catalogue of the portraits etc.
* ''The Letters of Thomas Gainborough'', ed. Mary Woodall, (Cupid Press, 1963)
* ''The Drawings of Thomas Gainsborough'', [[John Hayes (art historian)|John Hayes]], (Two volumes, Zwemmer, 1970) – the standard catalogue of the drawings
* ''Gainsborough as Printmaker'', John Hayes, (Zwemmer, 1971) – the standard catalogue of the prints
* ''Gainsborough'', John Hayes, (Phaidon, 1975)
* ''Gainsborough & Reynolds in the British Museum'', ed. Timothy Clifford, Antony Grffiths and Martin Royalton-Kisch, (BMP, 1978)
* ''Thomas Gainborough'', John Hayes, (Tate Gallery, 1981)
* ''The Landscape Paintings of Thomas Gainsborough'', John Hayes (Two volumes, Sotheby's, 1982) – the standard catalogue on the landscape paintings
* ''Thomas Gainsborough: His Life and Art'', Jack Lindsay, (HarperCollins, 1982)
* ''A Nest of Nightingales: Thomas Gainsborough, The Linley Sisters. Paintings and their Context II'', ed. Giles Waterfield, (Dulwich PIcture Gallery, 1988)
* ''The Paintings of Thomas Gainborough'', Malcolm Cormack, (Cambridge University Press, 1991)
* ''Gainsborough & Reynolds: Contrasts in Royal Patronage'', exhibition catalogue, (Queen's Gallery, 1994)
* ''Gainsborough's Vision'', Amal Asfour and Paul Williamson (Liverpool University Press, 1999)
* ''The Art of Thomas Gainborough: A little business for the Eye'', Michael Rosenthal, (Yale University Press, 1999)
* ''The Letters of Thomas Gainsborough'', ed. John Hayes (Yale University Press, 2001)
* ''Gainsborough'', eds. Michael Rosenthal and Martin Myrone, (Tate, 2002)
* ''Gainsborough in Bath'', Susan Sloman, (Yale University Press, 2002)
* ''Gainsborough'', William Vaughan, (World of Art, Thames & Hudson, 2002) – the most accessible introduction
* ''Sensation & Sensibility: Viewing Gainsborough's Cottage Door'', ed. Ann Bermingham (Yale University Press, 2005)
* ''Thomas Gainsborough's First Self-portrait'', Stephen Conrad, in ''The British Art Journal'', Vol. XII, No. 1, Summer 2011, pp.&nbsp;52–59
* ''Thomas Gainsborough and the Modern Woman'', ed. Benedict Leca, (Giles, 2011)
* ''Gainsborough's Landscapes: Themes and Variations'', Susan Sloman, (Philip Wilson, 2012)
* ''Gainsborough: A Portrait'', James Hamilton, (W&N, 13 July 2017)
*{{cite ODNB|first=Hugh|last=Belsey|title=Gainsborough, Thomas (1727–1788)|id=10282}}
*{{cite DNB|wstitle=Gainsborough, Thomas|volume=20|first=William Cosmo|last=Monkhouse}}
*{{Cite EB1911|wstitle= Gainsborough, Thomas | volume= 11 |last= Rossetti | first= William Michael |author-link= William Michael Rossetti | pages = 388&ndash;389 |short= 1}}


==References==
*''Thomas Gainsborough’s 'Lost' Portrait of Auguste Vestri'', [[Martin Postle]]
{{reflist}}
*''The Letters of Thomas Gainsborough'' (Paul Mellon Centre for Studies), John Hayes


==External links==
==External links==
{{Commons}}
{{Wikiquote}}
* {{Art UK bio}}
*[http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20100916224617/http://www.gac.culture.gov.uk/search/Artist.asp?maker_id=112361 Gainsborough at the Government Art Collection]
*[https://waddesdon.org.uk/the-collection/search/?search=Gainsborough Thomas Gainsborough's works of art at Waddesdon Manor]
*[https://www.paul-mellon-centre.ac.uk/archives-and-library/archive-collections/ellis-waterhouse Ellis Waterhouse archive]
*[https://www.paul-mellon-centre.ac.uk/archives-and-library/archive-collections/john-trevor-hayes John Hayes archive]; research papers of [[John Hayes (art historian)|John Hayes]], British art historian and a leading authority on Thomas Gainsborough


{{Commonscat|Thomas Gainsborough}}
{{Thomas Gainsborough}}
{{Authority control}}
*[http://www.ibiblio.org/wm/paint/auth/gainsborough/ Webmuseum Paris: Thomas Gainsborough]
*[http://www.vam.ac.uk/collections/paintings/galleries/display/gainsborough/index.html Victoria and Albert Museum collection]
*[http://www.thomas-gainsborough.org www.Thomas-Gainsborough.org] 70 works by Thomas Gainsborough


{{DEFAULTSORT:Gainsborough, Thomas}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gainsborough, Thomas}}
[[Category:Thomas Gainsborough| ]]
[[Category:1727 births]]
[[Category:1727 births]]
[[Category:1788 deaths]]
[[Category:1788 deaths]]
[[Category:English painters]]
[[Category:People from Sudbury, Suffolk]]
[[Category:Burials at St. Anne's Church, Kew]]
[[Category:18th-century English painters]]
[[Category:18th-century English male artists]]
[[Category:English male painters]]
[[Category:Royal Academicians]]
[[Category:Royal Academicians]]
[[Category:English portrait painters]]
[[Category:English landscape artists]]
[[Category:Rococo painters]]
[[Category:Deaths from cancer in England]]
[[Category:People educated at Sudbury Grammar School]]
[[Category:Waddesdon Manor]]
[[Category:Fellows of the Royal Society of Arts]]
[[Category:Fellows of the Royal Society of Arts]]
[[Category:Landscape artists]]
[[Category:People from Suffolk]]
[[Category:Portrait artists]]
[[Category:Thomas Gainsborough paintings|*]]
[[Category:Cancer deaths in England]]

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Latest revision as of 02:52, 15 December 2024

Thomas Gainsborough
RA FRSA
Self-portrait (1759)
Born
Sudbury, Suffolk, England
Baptised(1727-05-14)14 May 1727
Died2 August 1788(1788-08-02) (aged 61)
London, England
Resting placeSt Anne's Church, Kew
EducationHubert-François Gravelot, Francis Hayman
Known for
Notable workMr and Mrs Andrews
The Blue Boy
MovementRococo
Spouse
Margaret Burr
​
(m. 1746)​
Children2

Thomas Gainsborough RA FRSA (/ˈɡeɪnzbərə/; 14 May 1727 (baptised) – 2 August 1788) was an English portrait and landscape painter, draughtsman, and printmaker. Along with his rival Sir Joshua Reynolds,[1] he is considered one of the most important British artists of the second half of the 18th century.[2] He painted quickly, and the works of his maturity are characterised by a light palette and easy strokes. Despite being a prolific portrait painter, Gainsborough gained greater satisfaction from his landscapes.[3] He is credited (with Richard Wilson) as the originator of the 18th-century British landscape school. Gainsborough was a founding member of the Royal Academy.

Youth and training

[edit]
Lady Lloyd and Her Son, Richard Savage Lloyd, of Hintlesham Hall, Suffolk (1745–46), Yale Center for British Art

Gainsborough was born in Sudbury, Suffolk, the youngest son of John Gainsborough, a weaver and maker of woollen goods, and his wife Mary, sister of the Reverend Humphry Burroughs.[4] One of Gainsborough's brothers, Humphrey, is said to have invented the method of condensing steam in a separate vessel, which was of great service to James Watt; another brother, John, was known as Scheming Jack because of his passion for designing curiosities.[5]

The artist spent his childhood at what is now Gainsborough's House, on Gainsborough Street, Sudbury. He later resided there following the death of his father in 1748 and before his move to Ipswich.[6] The building is now a house-museum dedicated to his life and art.

As a boy he demonstrated impressive drawing and painting skills. At the age of ten he was painting heads and small landscapes, including a miniature self-portrait.[7] Gainsborough left home in 1740 to study art in London, where he trained under engraver Hubert Gravelot[4] but became associated with William Hogarth and his school. He assisted Francis Hayman in decorating the supper boxes at Vauxhall Gardens.[4]

Career

[edit]

Suffolk

[edit]

In 1746, Gainsborough married Margaret Burr, an illegitimate daughter of the Duke of Beaufort, who had settled a £200 annuity on her. The artist's work, then mostly consisting of landscape paintings, was not selling well. He returned to Sudbury in 1748–1749 and concentrated on painting portraits.[8] While still in Suffolk, Gainsborough painted a portrait of The Rev. John Chafy Playing the Violoncello in a Landscape (c. 1750–1752; Tate Gallery, London).[9]

In 1752, he and his family, now including two daughters, Mary ("Molly", 1750–1826) and Margaret ("Peggy", 1751–1820),[10] moved to Ipswich. Commissions for portraits increased, but his clients included mainly local merchants and squires. He had to borrow against his wife's annuity.[8] Toward the end of his time in Ipswich, he painted a self-portrait,[11] now in the permanent collection of the National Portrait Gallery, London.[12]

  • The artist's family and self-portrait
  • Margaret Burr (1728–1797), the artist's wife, c. early 1770s
    Margaret Burr (1728–1797), the artist's wife, c. early 1770s
  • Self-Portrait (1754)
    Self-Portrait (1754)
  • The Artist's Daughters (c. 1759)
    The Artist's Daughters (c. 1759)

Bath

[edit]
Ann Ford (later Mrs. Philip Thicknesse), 1760, Cincinnati Art Museum
The Blue Boy (1770). Huntington Library, San Marino, California

In 1759, Gainsborough and his family moved to Bath, living at number 17 The Circus.[13] There, he studied portraits by van Dyck and was eventually able to attract a fashionable clientele. In 1761, he began to send work to the Society of Arts exhibition in London (now the Royal Society of Arts, of which he was one of the earliest members); and from 1769 he submitted works to the Royal Academy's annual exhibitions. The exhibitions helped him enhance his reputation, and he was invited to become a founding member of the Royal Academy in 1769. His relationship with the academy was not an easy one and he stopped exhibiting his paintings in 1773.

Despite Gainsborough's increasing popularity and success in painting portraits for fashionable society, he expressed frustration during his Bath period at the demands of such work and that it prevented him from pursuing his preferred artistic interests. In a letter to a friend in the 1760s Gainsborough wrote: "I'm sick of Portraits and wish very much to take my Viol da Gamba and walk off to some sweet Village where I can paint Landskips [landscapes] and enjoy the fag End of Life in quietness and ease".[14] Of the men he had to deal with as patrons and admirers, and their pretensions, he wrote:

... damn Gentlemen, there is not such a set of Enemies to a real artist in the world as they are, if not kept at a proper distance. They think ... that they reward your merit by their Company & notice; but I ... know that they have but one part worth looking at, and that is their Purse; their Hearts are seldom near enough the right place to get a sight of it.[15]

Gainsborough was so keen a viol da gamba player that he had at this stage five of the instruments, three made by Henry Jaye and two by Barak Norman.[16]

London

[edit]
Frances Browne, Mrs John Douglas (1746–1811), 1783–84, Waddesdon Manor

In 1774, Gainsborough and his family moved to London to live in Schomberg House, Pall Mall.[4][17] A commemorative blue plaque was put on the house in 1951.[18] In 1777, he again began to exhibit his paintings at the Royal Academy, including portraits of contemporary celebrities, such as the Duke and Duchess of Cumberland. Exhibitions of his work continued for the next six years. About this time, Gainsborough began experimenting with printmaking using the then-novel techniques of aquatint and soft-ground etching.[19]

Portrait of Anne, Countess of Chesterfield (1777–78), J. Paul Getty Museum. His later pictures are characterised by a light palette and easy strokes.

During the 1770s and 1780s Gainsborough developed a type of portrait in which he integrated the sitter into the landscape. An example of this is his portrait of Frances Browne, Mrs John Douglas (1746–1811) which can be seen at Waddesdon Manor. The sitter has withdrawn to a secluded and overgrown corner of a garden to read a letter, her pose recalling the traditional representation of Melancholy. Gainsborough emphasised the relationship between Mrs Douglas and her environment by painting the clouds behind her and the drapery billowing across her lap with similar silvery violet tones and fluid brushstrokes. This portrait was included in his first private exhibition at Schomberg House in 1784.[20]

In 1776, Gainsborough painted a portrait of Johann Christian Bach,[21] the youngest son of Johann Sebastian Bach.[22] Bach's former teacher Padre Martini of Bologna, Italy, was assembling a collection of portraits of musicians, and Bach asked Gainsborough to paint his portrait as part of this collection.[21] The portrait now hangs in the National Portrait Gallery in London.[21]

In 1780, he painted the portraits of King George III and Queen Charlotte and afterwards received other royal commissions. In February 1780, his daughter Molly was married to his musician friend Johann Christian Fischer, to Gainsborough's dismay, as he realized that Fischer was forming an attachment to Molly while carrying on flirtation with Peggy.[10] The marriage between Molly and Fischer lasted only eight months, owing to their discord and Fischer's deceit.[10]

In 1784, Principal Painter in Ordinary Allan Ramsay died and the King was obliged to give the job to Gainsborough's rival and Academy president, Joshua Reynolds. Gainsborough remained the royal family's favourite painter, however.

In his later years, Gainsborough often painted landscapes. With Richard Wilson, he was one of the originators of the eighteenth-century British landscape school; though simultaneously, in conjunction with Reynolds, he was the dominant British portraitist of the second half of the 18th century.

William Jackson in his contemporary essays said of him "to his intimate friends he was sincere and honest and that his heart was always alive to every feeling of honour and generosity".[23] Gainsborough did not particularly enjoy reading but letters written to his friends were penned in such an exceptional conversational manner that the style could not be equalled.[24] As a letter writer Henry Bate-Dudley said of him "a selection of his letters would offer the world as much originality and beauty as is ever traced in his paintings".[25]

In the 1780s, Gainsborough used a device he called a "Showbox" to compose landscapes and display them backlit on glass. The original box is on display in the Victoria & Albert Museum with a reproduction transparency.[26]

He died of cancer on 2 August 1788 at the age of 61. According to his daughter Peggy, his last words were "van Dyck".[27] He is interred in the churchyard St Anne's Church, Kew, Surrey, (located on Kew Green). It was his express wish to be buried near his friend Joshua Kirby. Later his wife and nephew Gainsborough Dupont were interred with him. Coincidentally Johan Zoffany and Franz Bauer are also buried in the graveyard. In 2011, an appeal was given to pay the costs of restoration of his tomb, and the tomb was restored in 2012.[28][29] A street in Kew, Gainsborough Road, is named after him.[30]

Technique

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Girl with Pigs, 1781–82, private collection, was said by Sir Joshua Reynolds to be "the best picture he ever painted".[31]

The art historian Michael Rosenthal described Gainsborough as "one of the most technically proficient and, at the same time, most experimental artists of his time".[19] He was noted for the speed with which he applied paint, and he worked more from observations of nature (and of human nature) than from application of formal academic rules.[19] The poetic sensibility of his paintings caused Constable to say, "On looking at them, we find tears in our eyes and know not what brings them."

Gainsborough's enthusiasm for landscapes is shown in the way he merged figures of the portraits with the scenes behind them. His landscapes were often painted at night by candlelight, using a tabletop arrangement of stones, pieces of mirrors, broccoli, and the like as a model.[19] His later work was characterised by a light palette and easy, economical strokes.[32]

Gainsborough's only known assistant was his nephew, Gainsborough Dupont.[4]

Reputation

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Portrait of Mrs Mary Graham (1777) Scottish National Gallery
The Harvest Wagon (1767)
Alice De Lancey Izard (between 1747 and 1788) Metropolitan Museum of Art

His more famous works, The Blue Boy; Mr and Mrs Andrews; Portrait of Mrs. Graham; Mary and Margaret: The Painter's Daughters; William Hallett and His Wife Elizabeth, nee Stephen, known as The Morning Walk; and Cottage Girl with Dog and Pitcher, display the unique individuality of his subjects. His rival, Joshua Reynolds wrote that the painting Girl with Pigs was "the best picture he (Gainsborough) ever painted or perhaps ever will".[31]

Gainsborough's works became popular with collectors from the 1850s on, after Lionel de Rothschild began buying his portraits. The rapid rise in the value of pictures by Gainsborough and also by Reynolds in the mid 19th century was partly because the Rothschild family, including Ferdinand de Rothschild began collecting them.[33]

In 2011, Gainsborough's portrait of Miss Read (Mrs Frances Villebois) was sold by Michael Pearson, 4th Viscount Cowdray, for a record price of £6.54M, at Christie's in London.[34] She was a matrilineal descendant of Cecily Neville, Duchess of York.[35][36]

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See also

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Further reading

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  • Thomas Gainsborough, William T. Whitley, (John Murray, 1915)
  • Gainsborough, Ellis Waterhouse, (Edward Hulton, 1958) – the standard catalogue of the portraits etc.
  • The Letters of Thomas Gainborough, ed. Mary Woodall, (Cupid Press, 1963)
  • The Drawings of Thomas Gainsborough, John Hayes, (Two volumes, Zwemmer, 1970) – the standard catalogue of the drawings
  • Gainsborough as Printmaker, John Hayes, (Zwemmer, 1971) – the standard catalogue of the prints
  • Gainsborough, John Hayes, (Phaidon, 1975)
  • Gainsborough & Reynolds in the British Museum, ed. Timothy Clifford, Antony Grffiths and Martin Royalton-Kisch, (BMP, 1978)
  • Thomas Gainborough, John Hayes, (Tate Gallery, 1981)
  • The Landscape Paintings of Thomas Gainsborough, John Hayes (Two volumes, Sotheby's, 1982) – the standard catalogue on the landscape paintings
  • Thomas Gainsborough: His Life and Art, Jack Lindsay, (HarperCollins, 1982)
  • A Nest of Nightingales: Thomas Gainsborough, The Linley Sisters. Paintings and their Context II, ed. Giles Waterfield, (Dulwich PIcture Gallery, 1988)
  • The Paintings of Thomas Gainborough, Malcolm Cormack, (Cambridge University Press, 1991)
  • Gainsborough & Reynolds: Contrasts in Royal Patronage, exhibition catalogue, (Queen's Gallery, 1994)
  • Gainsborough's Vision, Amal Asfour and Paul Williamson (Liverpool University Press, 1999)
  • The Art of Thomas Gainborough: A little business for the Eye, Michael Rosenthal, (Yale University Press, 1999)
  • The Letters of Thomas Gainsborough, ed. John Hayes (Yale University Press, 2001)
  • Gainsborough, eds. Michael Rosenthal and Martin Myrone, (Tate, 2002)
  • Gainsborough in Bath, Susan Sloman, (Yale University Press, 2002)
  • Gainsborough, William Vaughan, (World of Art, Thames & Hudson, 2002) – the most accessible introduction
  • Sensation & Sensibility: Viewing Gainsborough's Cottage Door, ed. Ann Bermingham (Yale University Press, 2005)
  • Thomas Gainsborough's First Self-portrait, Stephen Conrad, in The British Art Journal, Vol. XII, No. 1, Summer 2011, pp. 52–59
  • Thomas Gainsborough and the Modern Woman, ed. Benedict Leca, (Giles, 2011)
  • Gainsborough's Landscapes: Themes and Variations, Susan Sloman, (Philip Wilson, 2012)
  • Gainsborough: A Portrait, James Hamilton, (W&N, 13 July 2017)
  • Belsey, Hugh. "Gainsborough, Thomas (1727–1788)". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/10282. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
  • Monkhouse, William Cosmo (1889). "Gainsborough, Thomas" . In Stephen, Leslie (ed.). Dictionary of National Biography. Vol. 20. London: Smith, Elder & Co.
  • Rossetti, William Michael (1911). "Gainsborough, Thomas" . Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 11 (11th ed.). pp. 388–389.

References

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  1. ^ Roya Nikkhah (25 November 2012). "Reynolds and Gainsborough - artistic rivals' reconciliation revealed in Royal Academy show". The Daily Telegraph. Archived from the original on 12 January 2022. Retrieved 9 October 2018.
  2. ^ Steven A. Nash; Lynn Federle Orr; California Palace of the Legion of Honor; Marion C. Stewart (1999). Masterworks of European Painting in the California Palace of the Legion of Honor. Hudson Hills. p. 111. ISBN 9781555951825.
  3. ^ Mary Woodall (1939). Gainsborough's Landscape Drawings. Faber & Faber. p. 1.
  4. ^ a b c d e "Thomas Gainsborough". National Gallery of Art. Archived from the original on 13 December 2012. Retrieved 10 December 2011.
  5. ^ Fulcher, George William, Life of Thomas Gainsborough, London 1856
  6. ^ The dictionary of art (volume 11 Ferrara-Gainsborough). Turner, Jane, 1956-. New York: Grove. 1996. p. 907. ISBN 978-1884446009. OCLC 34409675.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: others (link)
  7. ^ Conrad, Stephen, "Thomas Gainsborough's First Self-portrait", The British Art Journal, Vol. XII, No. 1, Summer 2011, pp. 52–59
  8. ^ a b Katharine Baetjer (2009). British Paintings in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1575-1875. New York, N.Y.: Metropolitan Museum of Art. p. 92. ISBN 9781588393487.
  9. ^ Tate Gallery website. Retrieved 3 November 2021.
  10. ^ a b c Hamilton, James (13 July 2017). Gainsborough: A Portrait. W&N. ISBN 978-1474600521.
  11. ^ "The boy is back in town". BBC Suffolk.
  12. ^ "Thomas Gainsborough". National Portrait Gallery.
  13. ^ Greenwood, Charles (1977). Famous houses of the West Country. Bath: Kingsmead Press. pp. 84–86. ISBN 978-0-901571-87-8.
  14. ^ Letter to William Jackson, from Bath, dated 4 June (but without the year), in M. Woodall (ed.), The Letters of Thomas Gainsborough (London, 1961), p. 115.
  15. ^ Letter to William Jackson, from Bath, dated 2 September 1767, in M. Woodall (ed.), The Letters of Thomas Gainsborough (London, 1961), p. 101.
  16. ^ Letter to William Jackson, from Bath, dated 4 June (but without the year), in M. Woodall (ed.), The Letters of Thomas Gainsborough (London, 1961), p. 115: "My comfort is, I have 5 Viols da Gamba, 3 Jayes and two Barak Normans."
  17. ^ Plaque #2 on Open Plaques
  18. ^ "Thomas Gainsborough Blue Plaque". openplaques.org. Archived from the original on 23 July 2012. Retrieved 13 May 2013.
  19. ^ a b c d Rosenthal, Michael. "Gainsborough, Thomas". Grove Art Online. Oxford Art Online. Oxford University Press. Web.
  20. ^ "Search Results". collection.waddesdon.org.uk. Archived from the original on 12 April 2017. Retrieved 12 April 2017.
  21. ^ a b c "Johann Christian Bach". National Portrait Gallery. Retrieved 3 September 2018.
  22. ^ Bagnoli, Giorgio (1993). The La Scala Encyclopedia of the Opera. Simon and Schuster. p. 38. ISBN 9780671870423.
  23. ^ Jackson, William (1798). The Four Ages including essays on various subjects. Cadell & Davies. p. 161. Archived from the original on 10 April 2016.
  24. ^ Jackson, William (1798). The Four Ages including essays on various subjects. Cadell & Davies. p. 183. Archived from the original on 10 April 2016.
  25. ^ Woodall, Mary, Introduction to The Letters of Thomas Gainborough, Cupid Press, London, 1963
  26. ^ "Gainsborough's Showbox". www.vam.ac.uk. 12 July 2011. Archived from the original on 2 August 2011.
  27. ^ "Episode 5, Gainsborough, Book of the Week - BBC Radio 4". BBC. Archived from the original on 14 August 2017. Retrieved 30 April 2018.
  28. ^ "Restoration of Thomas Gainsborough's tomb". Richmond Guardian. London. 7 March 2011. Archived from the original on 18 January 2012. Retrieved 1 December 2011.
  29. ^ www.minervaconservation.com http://www.minervaconservation.com/monuments/gainsborough. Retrieved 16 December 2023. {{cite web}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  30. ^ Dunbar, Janet. A Prospect of Richmond (1977 ed.). George Harrap. pp. 199–209.
  31. ^ a b Willes, F.W. Letters of Joshua Reynolds, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge 1929
  32. ^ Birmingham Museum of Art (2010). Birmingham Museum of Art: A Guide to the Collection. London: Giles. p. 80. ISBN 978-1-904832-77-5. Archived from the original on 10 September 2011. Retrieved 24 June 2011.
  33. ^ Hall, M. Waddesdon Manor: The Heritage of a Rothschild House, Scala, London, 2009, p. 77
  34. ^ "Christie's".
  35. ^ "Richard III – Family tree – Ann of York – Michael Ibsen – University of Leicester". Archived from the original on 20 January 2015.
  36. ^ Turi E. King; et al. (2014). "Figure 1: Genealogical links between Richard III and modern-day relatives who participated in this study". Nature Communications. 5: 5631. doi:10.1038/ncomms6631. PMC 4268703. PMID 25463651.
  37. ^ "Tower Theatre Company : Gainsborough's Girls". Archived from the original on 24 April 2019. Retrieved 24 April 2019.
  38. ^ "A Right Royal Face-Off by Simon Edge | Eye Books".
  39. ^ "The English paintings that inspired Stanley Kubrick | art | Agenda | Phaidon". www.phaidon.com. Archived from the original on 15 October 2022. Retrieved 15 October 2022.
  40. ^ "Gainsborough painting restored and rehung after 'drill-bit attack'". TheGuardian.com. 28 March 2017.
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