Thomas Gainsborough
Born – Sudbury, England 1727
Died – London, England 1788
Although Gainsborough’s professional first love was landscape, it is for his elegant portraits of eighteenth-century aristocracy that he is most popularly known. He was brought up in rural Sudbury and unlike his contemporary rival, Reynolds, he did not travel abroad to study works f the great masters. He did go to London in 1740, where he worked with the French engraver, Gravelot, returning to Sudbury in 1746. He established himself in Ipswich in 1752 as a portrait painter, including landscape elements into the genre where possible, seen most clearly in his painting Mr and Mrs Andrews. When he moved to Bath in 1760 he was able to develop this aspect of his work, focusing on full-length portraits, producing paintings of inimitable style and sophistication. The influences of engraving and of Dutch Landscape art are revealed in Gainsborough’s command of a free and spontaneous technique. The debt he owes to Dyck is shown in his interpretation of the married couple in The Morning Walk. Gainsborough’s perspective grasp of character and natural feeling for harmonious composition make for a beautiful image. The painting throughout is sensitively handled, charming and delicate without succumbing to sentiment.
Masterpieces:
- Mr and Mrs Andrews
- Portrait of Miss Haverfield
Text: The A-Z of Art, Nicola Hodge and Libby Anson.