Thomas Gainsborough (14 May 1727 (baptised) – 2 August 1788) was an English portrait and landscape painter, draughtsman, and printmaker.
Gainsborough was allowed to leave home in 1740 to study art in London, where he trained under engraver Hubert Gravelot but became associated with William Hogarth and his school.
He assisted Francis Hayman in the decoration of the supper boxes at Vauxhall Gardens, and contributed one image to the decoration of what is now the Thomas Coram Foundation for Children. ==Career== ===Suffolk=== In 1746, Gainsborough married Margaret Burr, an illegitimate daughter of the Duke of Beaufort, who had settled a £200 annuity on her.
He later resided there, following the death of his father in 1748 and before his move to Ipswich.
He returned to Sudbury in 1748–1749 and concentrated on painting portraits. While still in Suffolk, Gainsborough painted a portrait of the Rev.
Tate Gallery, London. In 1752, he and his family, now including two daughters, moved to Ipswich.
Toward the end of his time in Ipswich, he painted a self-portrait, now in the permanent collection of the National Portrait Gallery, London. ===Bath=== In 1759, Gainsborough and his family moved to Bath, living at number 17 The Circus.
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".
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.
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.
About this time, Gainsborough began experimenting with printmaking using the then-novel techniques of aquatint and soft-ground etching. During the 1770s and 1780s Gainsborough developed a type of portrait in which he integrated the sitter into the landscape.
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.
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.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. ===London=== In 1774, Gainsborough and his family moved to London to live in Schomberg House, Pall Mall.
She was a matrilineal descendant of Cecily Neville, Duchess of York. ==Popular culture== Cecil Beaton's play Gainsborough's Girls is set in London in 1774 when the painter moved his family to the capital.
This portrait was included in his first private exhibition at Schomberg House in 1784. In 1776, Gainsborough painted a portrait of Johann Christian Bach, the youngest son of Johann Sebastian Bach.
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.
About this time, Gainsborough began experimenting with printmaking using the then-novel techniques of aquatint and soft-ground etching. During the 1770s and 1780s Gainsborough developed a type of portrait in which he integrated the sitter into the landscape.
The portrait now hangs in the National Portrait Gallery in London. In 1780, he painted the portraits of King George III and Queen Charlotte and afterwards received other royal commissions. 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.
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". In the 1780s, Gainsborough used a device he called a "Showbox" to compose landscapes and display them backlit on glass.
This portrait was included in his first private exhibition at Schomberg House in 1784. In 1776, Gainsborough painted a portrait of Johann Christian Bach, the youngest son of Johann Sebastian Bach.
The portrait now hangs in the National Portrait Gallery in London. In 1780, he painted the portraits of King George III and Queen Charlotte and afterwards received other royal commissions. 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.
Thomas Gainsborough (14 May 1727 (baptised) – 2 August 1788) was an English portrait and landscape painter, draughtsman, and printmaker.
The original box is on display in the Victoria & Albert Museum with a reproduction transparency. He died of cancer on 2 August 1788 at the age of 61.
Joshua Reynolds considered Girl with Pigs "the best picture he (Gainsborough) ever painted or perhaps ever will". Gainsborough's works became popular with collectors from the 1850s on, after Lionel de Rothschild began buying his portraits.
Whitley, (John Murray, 1915) Gainsborough, Ellis Waterhouse, (Edward Hulton, 1958) – the standard catalogue of the portraits etc. The Letters of Thomas Gainborough, ed.
A commemorative blue plaque was put on the house in 1951.
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.
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.
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.
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, (Harper Collins, 1982) A Nest of Nightingales: Thomas Gainsborough, The Linley Sisters.
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, (Harper Collins, 1982) A Nest of Nightingales: Thomas Gainsborough, The Linley Sisters.
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, (Harper Collins, 1982) A Nest of Nightingales: Thomas Gainsborough, The Linley Sisters.
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.
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.
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.
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.
As of 2011, an appeal is underway to pay the costs of restoration of his tomb.
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. 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.
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) ==External links== Gainsborough at the Government Art Collection Thomas Gainsborough's works of art at Waddesdon Manor Ellis Waterhouse archive John Hayes archive; research papers of John Hayes, British art historian and a leading authority on Thomas Gainsborough 1727 births 1788 deaths People from Sudbury, Suffolk Burials at St.
Benedict Leca, (Giles, 2011) Gainsborough's Landscapes: Themes and Variations, Susan Sloman, (Philip Wilson, 2012) ==External links== Gainsborough at the Government Art Collection Thomas Gainsborough's works of art at Waddesdon Manor Ellis Waterhouse archive John Hayes archive; research papers of John Hayes, British art historian and a leading authority on Thomas Gainsborough 1727 births 1788 deaths People from Sudbury, Suffolk Burials at St.
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