Thomas Gainsborough (14 May 1727 (baptised) – 2 August 1788) was an English portrait and landscape painter, draughtsman, and printmaker. Along with his rival Sir Joshua Reynolds, he is considered one of the most important British artists of the second half of the 18th century. 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. 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 The Royal Academy of Arts (RA) is an art institution based in Burlington House on Piccadilly in London. Founded in 1768, it has a unique position as an independent, privately funded institution led by eminent artists and architects. Its pur ...

Youth and training

He was born in

Sudbury Sudbury may refer to: Places Australia * Sudbury Reef, Queensland Canada * Greater Sudbury, Ontario (official name; the city continues to be known simply as Sudbury for most purposes) ** Sudbury (electoral district), one of the city's federal el ...

, Suffolk, the youngest son of John Gainsborough, a weaver and maker of woollen goods, and his wife Mary, the sister of the Reverend Humphry Burroughs. One of Gainsborough's brothers, Humphrey, had a faculty for mechanics and was said to have invented the method of condensing steam in a separate vessel, which was of great service to

James Watt James Watt (; 30 January 1736 (19 January 1736 OS) – 25 August 1819) was a Scottish inventor, mechanical engineer, and chemist who improved on Thomas Newcomen's 1712 Newcomen steam engine with his Watt steam engine in 1776, which was ...

; another brother, John, was known as ''Scheming Jack'' because of his passion for designing curiosities. The artist spent his childhood at what is now

Gainsborough's House Gainsborough's House is the birthplace of the leading English painter Thomas Gainsborough. It is now a museum and gallery, located at 46 Gainsborough Street in Sudbury, Suffolk, England. Some of the pictures on display have been acquired with ...

, on Gainsborough Street, Sudbury. He later resided there, following the death of his father in 1748 and before his move to Ipswich. The building still survives and is now a house-museum dedicated to his life and art. When he was still a boy he impressed his father with his drawing and painting skills, and by the time he was ten years old he had almost certainly painted heads and small landscapes, including a miniature self-portrait. Gainsborough was allowed to leave home in 1740 to study art in London, where he trained under engraver

Hubert Gravelot Hubert is a Germanic masculine given name, from ''hug'' "mind" and ''beraht'' "bright". It also occurs as a surname. Saint Hubertus or Hubert (c. 656 – 30 May 727) is the patron saint of hunters, mathematicians, opticians, and metalworkers. ...

but became associated with

William Hogarth William Hogarth (; 10 November 1697 – 26 October 1764) was an English painter, engraver, pictorial satirist, social critic, editorial cartoonist and occasional writer on art. His work ranges from realistic portraiture to comic strip-like ...

and his school. He assisted Francis Hayman in the decoration of the supper boxes at

Vauxhall Gardens Vauxhall Gardens is a public park in Kennington in the London Borough of Lambeth, England, on the south bank of the River Thames. Originally known as New Spring Gardens, it is believed to have opened before the Restoration of 1660, bein ...

, and contributed one image to the decoration of what is now the

Thomas Coram Foundation for Children The Thomas Coram Foundation for Children is a large children's charity in London which uses the working name Coram (formerly Coram Family). It originated as part of England's oldest children's charity, the Foundling Hospital, established by ro ...

Career

Suffolk

In 1746, Gainsborough married Margaret Burr, an illegitimate daughter of the

Duke of Beaufort Duke of Beaufort (), a title in the Peerage of England, was created by Charles II in 1682 for Henry Somerset, 3rd Marquess of Worcester, a descendant of Charles Somerset, 1st Earl of Worcester, legitimised son of Henry Beaufort, 3rd Duke of S ...

, 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. While still in Suffolk, Gainsborough painted a portrait of ''The Rev. John Chafy Playing a Violoncello in a Landscape'' (c.1750–1752; Tate Gallery, London). In 1752, he and his family, now including two daughters, Mary ("Molly", 1750–1826) and Margaret ("Peggy", 1751–1820), 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. Toward the end of his time in Ipswich, he painted a self-portrait, now in the permanent collection of the

National Portrait Gallery, London The National Portrait Gallery (NPG) is an art gallery in London housing a collection of portraits of historically important and famous British people. It was arguably the first national public gallery dedicated to portraits in the world when it ...

. File:Margaret Burr (1728-1797), Mrs Thomas Gainsborough by Thomas Gainsborough.jpg, ''Margaret Burr'' (1728–1797), the artist's wife, c. early 1770s File:Thomas Gainsborough 024.jpg, ''Self-Portrait'' (1754) File:Thomas Gainsborough 017.jpg, ''The Artist's Daughters'' (c. 1759)

Bath

In 1759, Gainsborough and his family moved to

Bath Bath may refer to: * Bathing, immersion in a fluid ** Bathtub, a large open container for water, in which a person may wash their body ** Public bathing, a public place where people bathe * Thermae, ancient Roman public bathing facilities Plac ...

, living at number 17 The Circus. There, he studied portraits by

van Dyck Sir Anthony van Dyck (, many variant spellings; 22 March 1599 – 9 December 1641) was a Brabantian Flemish Baroque artist who became the leading court painter in England after success in the Southern Netherlands and Italy. The seventh ...

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 The Royal Society for the Encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce (RSA), also known as the Royal Society of Arts, is a London-based organisation committed to finding practical solutions to social challenges. The RSA acronym is used m ...

, of which he was one of the earliest members); and from 1769 he submitted works to the

'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 andscapesand enjoy the fag End of Life in quietness and ease". 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.

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 Barak Norman (c.1670–c.1740) was an English string instrument maker. He was the most important early English maker, noted for his viols and lutes. He also made violins, and was one of the earliest English cello makers. His work is characterized ...

London

In 1774, Gainsborough and his family moved to London to live in

Schomberg House Schomberg House at 80–82 Pall Mall is a prominent house on the south side of Pall Mall in central London which has a colourful history. Only the street facade survives today. It was built for The 3rd Duke of Schomberg, a Huguenot general i ...

, Pall Mall. A commemorative

blue plaque A blue plaque is a permanent sign installed in a public place in the United Kingdom and elsewhere to commemorate a link between that location and a famous person, event, or former building on the site, serving as a historical marker. The term ...

was put on the house in 1951. 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 Printmaking is the process of creating artworks by printing, normally on paper, but also on fabric, wood, metal, and other surfaces. "Traditional printmaking" normally covers only the process of creating prints using a hand processed techniqu ...

using the then-novel techniques of

aquatint Aquatint is an intaglio (printmaking), intaglio printmaking technique, a variant of etching that produces areas of tone rather than lines. For this reason it has mostly been used in conjunction with etching, to give both lines and shaded tone. ...

and soft-ground etching.Rosenthal, Michael. "Gainsborough, Thomas". ''Grove Art Online. Oxford Art Online''. Oxford University Press. Web. 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. In 1776, Gainsborough painted a portrait of

Johann Christian Bach Johann Christian Bach (September 5, 1735 – January 1, 1782) was a German composer of the Classical era, the eighteenth child of Johann Sebastian Bach, and the youngest of his eleven sons. After living in Italy for several years, Bach move ...

, the youngest son of

Johann Sebastian Bach Johann Sebastian Bach (28 July 1750) was a German composer and musician of the late Baroque period. He is known for his orchestral music such as the '' Brandenburg Concertos''; instrumental compositions such as the Cello Suites; keyboard wo ...

. 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. The portrait now hangs in the National Portrait Gallery in London. In 1780, he painted the portraits of King

George III George III (George William Frederick; 4 June 173829 January 1820) was King of Great Britain and of Ireland from 25 October 1760 until the union of the two kingdoms on 1 January 1801, after which he was King of the United Kingdom of Great Br ...

and Queen Charlotte and afterwards received other royal commissions. In February 1780, his daughter Molly was married to his musician friend

Johann Christian Fischer Johann Christian Fischer (c. 1733 – 29 April 1800) was a German composer and oboist, one of the best-known oboe soloists in Europe during the 1770s. Employed as a music copyist and theatre director for the Duke of Mecklenburg-Schwerin at Ludwig ...

, to Gainsborough's dismay, as he realized that Fischer was forming an attachment to Molly while carrying on flirtation with Peggy. The marriage between Molly and Fischer only lasted 8 months due to their discord and Fischer's deceit. 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 Sir Joshua Reynolds (16 July 1723 – 23 February 1792) was an English painter, specialising in portraits. John Russell said he was one of the major European painters of the 18th century. He promoted the "Grand Style" in painting which depend ...

. Gainsborough remained the Royal Family's favorite 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". 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. 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. The original box is on display in the

Victoria & Albert Museum The Victoria and Albert Museum (often abbreviated as the V&A) in London is the world's largest museum of applied arts, decorative arts and design, housing a permanent collection of over 2.27 million objects. It was founded in 1852 and nam ...

with a reproduction transparency. He died of cancer on 2 August 1788 at the age of 61. According to his daughter Peggy, his last words were "

". 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 Joshua Kirby (1716, Parham, Suffolk – 1774, Kew), often mistakenly called John Joshua Kirby, was an English 18th-century landscape painter, engraver, writer, draughtsman and architect famed for his publications and teaching on linear perspect ...

. Later his wife and nephew Gainsborough Dupont were interred with him. Coincidentally

Johan Zoffany Johan Joseph Zoffany (born Johannes Josephus Zaufallij; 13 March 1733 – 11 November 1810) was a German neoclassical painter who was active mainly in England, Italy and India. His works appear in many prominent British collections, includin ...

and Franz Bauer are also buried in the graveyard. As of 2011, an appeal is underway to pay the costs of restoration of his tomb. A street in Kew, Gainsborough Road, is named after him.

Technique

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". 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. The poetic sensibility of his paintings caused

Constable A constable is a person holding a particular office, most commonly in criminal law enforcement. The office of constable can vary significantly in different jurisdictions. A constable is commonly the rank of an officer within the police. Other peop ...

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. His later work was characterised by a light palette and easy, economical strokes. Gainsborough's only known assistant was his nephew, Gainsborough Dupont.

Reputation

His more famous works, ''

The Blue Boy ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the ...

''; ''

Mr and Mrs Andrews ''Mr and Mrs Andrews'' is an oil on canvas portrait of about 1750 by Thomas Gainsborough, now in the National Gallery, London. Today it is one of his most famous works, but it remained in the family of the sitters until 1960 and was very little ...

''; '' 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.

considered ''Girl with Pigs'' "the best picture he (Gainsborough) ever painted or perhaps ever will".Willes, F.W. Letters of Joshua Reynolds, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge 1929 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. In 2011, Gainsborough's portrait of ''Miss Read'' (Mrs Frances Villebois) was sold by

Michael Pearson, 4th Viscount Cowdray Michael Orlando Weetman Pearson, 4th Viscount Cowdray (born 17 June 1944) of Cowdray Park in West Sussex, is a landowner in West Sussex with and is a major shareholder of the FTSE 100 company Pearson plc, the construction, now publishing, c ...

, for a record price of £6.54M, at Christie's in London. She was a matrilineal descendant of

Cecily Neville, Duchess of York Cecily Neville (3 May 1415 – 31 May 1495) was an English noblewoman, the wife of Richard, Duke of York (1411–1460), and the mother of two kings of England— Edward IV and Richard III. Cecily Neville was known as "the Rose of Raby", beca ...

Popular culture

* 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. *

Cecil Beaton Sir Cecil Walter Hardy Beaton, (14 January 1904 – 18 January 1980) was a British fashion, portrait and war photographer, diarist, painter, and interior designer, as well as an Oscar–winning stage and costume designer for films and the t ...

'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. *

Simon Edge Simon John Edge (born 25 December 1964 in Chester, England) is a British novelist and journalist. Educated at the King's School, Chester, he went on to receive a master's degree in Philosophy from St Catharine's College, Cambridge and has a mast ...

's comic novel ''A Right Royal Face-Off'' focuses on Gainsborough's relationship with King George III and his family, and his rivalry with

. *

Stanley Kubrick Stanley Kubrick (; July 26, 1928 – March 7, 1999) was an American film director, producer, screenwriter, and photographer. Widely considered one of the greatest filmmakers of all time, his films, almost all of which are adaptations of nove ...

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 ''Barry Lyndon'' is a 1975 period drama film written, directed, and produced by Stanley Kubrick, based on the 1844 novel '' The Luck of Barry Lyndon'' by William Makepeace Thackeray. Starring Ryan O'Neal, Marisa Berenson, Patrick Magee, Le ...

. * Gainsborough's portrait '' The Morning Walk (Portrait of Mr and Mrs William Hallett)'' is clearly visible over actor

Daniel Craig Daniel Wroughton Craig (born 2 March 1968) is an English-American actor who gained international fame playing the secret agent James Bond in the film series, beginning with '' Casino Royale'' (2006) and in four further instalments, up to '' ...

's shoulder during a scene in the 2012

James Bond The ''James Bond'' series focuses on a fictional British Secret Service agent created in 1953 by writer Ian Fleming, who featured him in twelve novels and two short-story collections. Since Fleming's death in 1964, eight other authors hav ...

film ''

Skyfall ''Skyfall'' is a 2012 spy film and the twenty-third in the ''James Bond'' series produced by Eon Productions. The film is the third to star Daniel Craig as fictional MI6 agent James Bond and features Javier Bardem as Raoul Silva, the vill ...

'' set in the

National Gallery The National Gallery is an art museum in Trafalgar Square in the City of Westminster, in Central London, England. Founded in 1824, it houses a collection of over 2,300 paintings dating from the mid-13th century to 1900. The current Director ...

Gallery

File:Thomas Gainsborough - Clayton Jones - Google Art Project.jpg, ''Clayton Jones'' (1745),

Yale Center for British Art Yale University is a private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and among the most prestigious in the worl ...

File:Thomas Gainsborough - Conversation in a Park - WGA8400.jpg, ''Conversation in a Park'', (1746),

Louvre The Louvre ( ), or the Louvre Museum ( ), is the world's most-visited museum, and an historic landmark in Paris, France. It is the home of some of the best-known works of art, including the ''Mona Lisa'' and the '' Venus de Milo''. A central ...

File:Thomas Gainsborough - Portrait of a Woman - Google Art Project.jpg, ''Portrait of a Woman'' (1750), Yale Center for British Art File:Thomas Gainsborough - Portrait of John Plampin (1752).jpg, ''Portrait of John Plampin'', (1752),

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'', (c. 1763), 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 The Worcester Art Museum, also known by its acronym WAM, houses over 38,000 works of art dating from antiquity to the present day and representing cultures from all over the world. WAM opened in 1898 in Worcester, Massachusetts, and ranks among t ...

File:Karl Friedrich Abel by Thomas Gainsborough.jpg, ''Portrait of the Composer Carl Friedrich Abel with his Viola da Gamba'' (c. 1765), National Portrait Gallery File:Thomas Gainsborough - Portrait of Joshua Grigby.jpg, ''The lawyer Joshua Grigby III'' (1760/1765), Gemäldegalerie File:Portrait of Francis Bennett by Thomas Gainsborough.jpg, ''Portrait of Francis Bennett'' (1766), ''Private Collection'' File:Lady Elizabeth Montagu, Duchess of Buccleuch and Queensberry (1718-1800).jpg, '' Lady Elizabeth Montagu, Duchess of Buccleuch and Queensberry'', (c. 1767),

Boughton House Boughton House is a country house in the parish of Weekley in Northamptonshire, England, situated about north-east of Kettering. It is situated within an estate of . The present house was built by Ralph Montagu, 1st Duke of Montagu (d.1709) ...

File:Ignatius Sancho, 1768.jpg, ''Portrait of

Ignatius Sancho Charles Ignatius Sancho ( – 14 December 1780) was a British abolitionist, writer and composer. Born on a slave ship in the Atlantic, Sancho was sold into slavery in the Spanish colony of New Granada. After his parents died, Sancho's owne ...

'', (1768),

National Gallery of Canada The National Gallery of Canada (french: Musée des beaux-arts du Canada), located in the capital city of Ottawa, Ontario, is Canada's national art museum. The museum's building takes up , with of space used for exhibiting art. It is one of the ...

File:Thomas Gainsborough - Sir Robert Clayton - Google Art Project.jpg, ''Sir Robert Clayton'' (1769),

Walker Art Gallery The Walker Art Gallery is an art gallery in Liverpool, which houses one of the largest art collections in England outside London. It is part of the National Museums Liverpool group. History of the Gallery The Walker Art Gallery's collection ...

File:Maria, Lady Eardley (1743-1794) (Thomas Gainsborough) - Nationalmuseum - 22943.tif, '' Maria, Lady Eardley'' (c. 1770)

Nationalmuseum Nationalmuseum (or National Museum of Fine Arts) is the national gallery of Sweden, located on the peninsula Blasieholmen in central Stockholm. The museum's operations stretches far beyond the borders of Blasieholmen, the nationalmuseum manage ...

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, ''

'' (1776), National Portrait Gallery, London File:The Hon. Mrs. Thomas Graham.jpg, ''The Hon. Mrs. Thomas Graham'' (c. 1775–77)

National Gallery of Art The National Gallery of Art, and its attached Sculpture Garden, is a national art museum in Washington, D.C., United States, located on the National Mall, between 3rd and 9th Streets, at Constitution Avenue NW. Open to the public and free of ch ...

File:Thomas Gainsborough 012.jpg, ''Gainsborough`s Daughter Mary'' (1777),

Tate Britain Tate Britain, known from 1897 to 1932 as the National Gallery of British Art and from 1932 to 2000 as the Tate Gallery, is an art museum on Millbank in the City of Westminster in London, England. It is part of the Tate network of galleries in ...

File:Thomas Gainsborough (English - Portrait of James Christie (1730 - 1803) - Google Art Project.jpg, ''Portrait of James Christie'' (1778)

J. Paul Getty Museum The J. Paul Getty Museum, commonly referred to as the Getty, is an art museum in Los Angeles, California housed on two campuses: the Getty Center and Getty Villa. The Getty Center is located in the Brentwood neighborhood of Los Angeles and fea ...

File:Portrait of Margaret Gainsborough - Thomas Gainsborough.jpg, ''Portrait of Margaret Gainsborough'' (1778)

Courtauld Gallery The Courtauld Gallery () is an art museum in Somerset House, on the Strand in central London. It houses the collection of the Courtauld Institute of Art, a self-governing college of the University of London specialising in the study of the ...

File:Gainsborough - Grace Dalrymple Elliott.jpg, '' Mrs. Grace Dalrymple Elliott'', (1778),

Metropolitan Museum of Art The Metropolitan Museum of Art of New York City, colloquially "the Met", is the largest art museum in the Americas. Its permanent collection contains over two million works, divided among 17 curatorial departments. The main building at 1000 ...

File:Colonel John Bullock.jpg, '' Colonel John Bullock'' (c. 1780),

Blanton Museum of Art The Jack S. Blanton Museum of Art (often referred to as the Blanton or the BMA) at the University of Texas at Austin is one of the largest university art museums in the U.S. with 189,340 square feet devoted to temporary exhibitions, permanent col ...

File:Thomas Gainsborough - An officer of the 4th Regiment of Foot - Google Art Project.jpg, ''An officer of the 4th Regiment of Foot'' (c. 1776–1780),

National Gallery of Victoria The National Gallery of Victoria, popularly known as the NGV, is an art museum in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. Founded in 1861, it is Australia's oldest and most visited art museum. The NGV houses an encyclopedic art collection across two ...

File:Thomas Gainsborough - Portrait of a Lady in Blue - WGA8414.jpg, '' Lady in Blue'' (c. 1780),

Hermitage Museum The State Hermitage Museum ( rus, Государственный Эрмитаж, r=Gosudarstvennyj Ermitaž, p=ɡəsʊˈdarstvʲɪn(ː)ɨj ɪrmʲɪˈtaʂ, links=no) is a museum of art and culture in Saint Petersburg, Russia. It is the larges ...

File:Thomas Gainsborough - Madame Lebrun - Google Art Project.jpg, '' Madame Lebrun'' (1780),

Art Gallery of South Australia The Art Gallery of South Australia (AGSA), established as the National Gallery of South Australia in 1881, is located in Adelaide. It is the most significant visual arts museum in the Australian state of South Australia. It has a collection of ...

File:Queen Charlotte - Gainsborough 1781.jpg, '' Queen Charlotte'', (c. 1781)

Royal Collection The Royal Collection of the British royal family is the largest private art collection in the world. Spread among 13 occupied and historic royal residences in the United Kingdom, the collection is owned by King Charles III and overseen by the ...

File:Thomas Gainsborough, Giovanna Baccelli. Oil on canvas, c.. 1782. Tate.jpg, ''Portrait of Giovanna Baccelli'', (c. 1782), Tate Britain File:Thomas Gainsborough 015.jpg, ''Mrs.

Sarah Siddons Sarah Siddons (''née'' Kemble; 5 July 1755 – 8 June 1831) was a Welsh actress, the best-known tragedienne of the 18th century. Contemporaneous critic William Hazlitt dubbed Siddons as "tragedy personified". She was the elder sister of Joh ...

'' (1785), National Gallery File:Thomas Gainsborough - Mr and Mrs William Hallett ('The Morning Walk') - WGA8418.jpg, '' The Morning Walk'' (1785), National Gallery File:Thomas Gainsborough 005.jpg, ''The Cottage Girl'' (1785),

National Gallery of Ireland The National Gallery of Ireland ( ga, Gailearaí Náisiúnta na hÉireann) houses the national collection of Irish and European art. It is located in the centre of Dublin with one entrance on Merrion Square, beside Leinster House, and another on ...

File:Lady Sheffield by Gainsborough.jpg, ''Portrait of Sophia Charlotte Digby, Lady Sheffield'', (c. 1785–86), Waddesdon Manor File:Thomas Gainsborough - The Marsham Children - Google Art Project.jpg, ''The Marsham Children'', (1787), Gemäldegalerie File:Thomas Gainsborough Lady Georgiana Cavendish.jpg, '' Portrait of Georgiana, Duchess of Devonshire'', (1787),

Chatsworth House Chatsworth House is a stately home in the Derbyshire Dales, north-east of Bakewell and west of Chesterfield, England. The seat of the Duke of Devonshire, it has belonged to the Cavendish family since 1549. It stands on the east bank of the ...

File:Thomas Gainsborough - Mrs. Richard Brinsley Sheridan .jpg, '' Mrs Richard Brinsley Sheridan'' (1787),

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 The Kunsthistorisches Museum ( "Museum of Art History", often referred to as the "Museum of Fine Arts") is an art museum in Vienna, Austria. Housed in its festive palatial building on the Vienna Ring Road, it is crowned with an octagonal d ...

File:Thomas Gainsborough - Holywells Park, Ipswich.jpg, ''Holywells Park, Ipswich'', (c. 1748–50), Christchurch Mansion File:Thomas Gainsborough - Mr and Mrs Andrews.jpg, ''

'', (c. 1750), National Gallery File:Thomas Gainsborough - Landscape with Stream and Weir - Google Art Project.jpg, ''Landscape with Stream and Weir'', (c. 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'' (c. 1763), watercolour, Yale Center for British Art File:Thomas Gainsborough - Road from Market - Google Art Project.jpg, ''Road from Market'', (c. 1767–68),

Toledo Museum of Art The Toledo Museum of Art is an internationally known art museum located in the Old West End neighborhood of Toledo, Ohio. It houses a collection of more than 30,000 objects. With 45 galleries, it covers 280,000 square feet and is currently in th ...

File:Thomas Gainsborough - The Mall in St. James's Park - Google Art Project.jpg, ''The Mall in St. James's Park'', (1783),

Frick Collection The Frick Collection is an art museum in New York City. Its permanent collection (normally at the Henry Clay Frick House, currently at the Frick Madison) features Old Master paintings and European fine and decorative arts, including works by ...

File:Thomas Gainsborough - Coastal Landscape with a Shepherd and His Flock - Google Art Project.jpg, ''Coastal Landscape with a Shepherd and His Flock'', (c. 1783–84), Yale Center for British Art File:Gainsborough-HarvestWagon1784.jpg, ''

The Harvest Wagon ''The Harvest Wagon'' is the name of two oil paintings by the English artist Thomas Gainsborough. The first version was completed around 1767 and is today owned by the Barber Institute of Fine Arts, in Birmingham, England. The second version wa ...

'', (1784),

Art Gallery of Ontario The Art Gallery of Ontario (AGO; french: Musée des beaux-arts de l'Ontario) is an art museum in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The museum is located in the Grange Park neighbourhood of downtown Toronto, on Dundas Street West between McCaul and Bev ...

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

References

External links

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Gainsborough at the Government Art CollectionThomas Gainsborough's works of art at Waddesdon ManorEllis Waterhouse archiveJohn Hayes archive
research papers of John Hayes, British art historian and a leading authority on Thomas Gainsborough {{DEFAULTSORT:Gainsborough, Thomas 1727 births 1788 deaths People from Sudbury, Suffolk Burials at St. Anne's Church, Kew 18th-century English painters 18th-century English male artists English male painters Royal Academicians English portrait painters Landscape artists Rococo painters Deaths from cancer in England People educated at Sudbury Grammar School Waddesdon Manor