Thomas Gainsborough
In 1774, Gainsborough and his family moved to London to live in Schomberg House, 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 1780, he painted the portraits of King 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 1784, royal painter 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 his later years, Gainsborough often painted relatively simple, ordinary landscapes. With 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.
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Art and commentary
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 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."
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.
He died of cancer on 2 August 1788 in his 62nd year.
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See also
- English school of painting
- British art
- List of British painters
- Humphrey Gainsborough
- Holywells Park, Ipswich
- Gainsborough paintings
- Western painting
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In Fiction
- Kitty (1945) is a notable fictional film about Gainsborough, portrayed by Cecil Kellaway.
- Gainsborough has an important posthumous role in the alternate history novel The Two Georges by Harry Turtledove.
- In Darwyn Cooke's revival of the classic comic book series The Spirit, heroine Silk Satin nicknames the eponymous protagonist "Gainsborough" because of his blue outfit, in a silly reference to Gainsborough's most famous painting.
- In Blackadder the Third, Baldrick's cousin Bert is mentioned to be Gainsborough's butler's dogsbody.
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Books about Gainsborough
"Thomas Gainsborough’s ‘Lost’ Portrait of Auguste Vestri" by Martin Postle
The Letters of Thomas Gainsborough (Paul Mellon Centre for Studies) (Hardcover) by Thomas Gainsborough (Author), John Hayes (Author)
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External links
- Webmuseum Paris: Thomas Gainsborough
- Gainsborough's Showbox. Paintings & Drawings. Victoria and Albert Museum. Retrieved on 2007-08-21.
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