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Thomas Gainsborough is an English landscape and portrait painter, one of the great English masters. He was born in Sudbury, Suffolk in the family of a clothier. He showed an aptitude for drawing early and first was encouraged by his mother, who was a woman of well-cultivated mind and excelled in flower-painting. He used to spend a lot of time outdoors, drawing. In 1740, at the age of 13 he was sent to London to study art. He spent several years working in the studios of different artists, one of whom was Hubert Gravelot, a draughtsman and engraver, another one was a scene-painter and illustrator Francis Hayman.
In 1748 Gainsborough presented The Charterhouse (1748) to the Foundling Hospital, it was a way for the artist to show one of his works, because at that time there were no other possibilities for young artists. In 1746 Gainsborough married Margaret Burr, an illegitimate daughter of Duke of Beaufort. His wife brought the family an annuity of £200, which enabled him to start his career as a portrait-painter in Ipswich.
He first did not have many commissions there and had a lot of time to indulge in his favorite pursuit: to draw landscapes. Also he created many beautiful pictures of his wife and daughters such as Self-Portrait with His Wife, Margaret (probably) (1746-1747), Thomas Gainsborough, with His Wife and Elder Daughter, Mary, (About 1751-2), The Painter's Daughters, Margaret and Mary, Chasing Butterfly, (about 1756), The Painter's Daughters, Margaret and Mary, Holding a Cat, (About 1759). The most notable portraits of that period are Robert Andrews and His Wife Frances (about 1748-49), Heneage Lloyd and His Sister (1750s), William Wollaston. (about 1758-1759).
In 1760 Gainsborough decided to move to Bath, where it was possible for him to have portraits commissioned by the much wealthier and nobler persons. Bath, famous for its mineral waters, was the principal lounging place for persons of wealth and leisure in winter. Gainsborough became well-known there in his first year after moving and since then always had a lot of sitters. His portraits combine the elegance of Van Dyck with his own characteristic informality. There are such early masterpieces as Mrs. Philip Thicknesse (1760), Mary, Countess Howe (about 1763-4), The Blue Boy (exhibited R.A. 1770), and the landscape The Harvest Wagon (exhibited S.A. 1767). In 1768 he became one of the foundation members of the Royal Academy, at which he exhibited annually until 1784, when he retired after the disagreement over the hanging of his pictures at the exhibition.
In 1774 Gainsborough moved
to London. He was an established master by then. To this last great period
of his life belong such masterpieces of portraiture as The
Hon. Mrs. Thomas Graham (exhibited R.A. 1777), The
Hon. Frances Duncombe (about 1778), Mrs.
Thomas Gainsborough, nee Margaret Burr (about 1778), Georgiana,
Duchess of Devonshire (1783), Mrs.
Richard Brinsley Sheridan, née Elizabeth Linley (1785),
William
Hallett and His Wife Elizabeth, nee Stephen, known as "The Morning Walk"
(1785), Mrs. Sarah Siddons
(1785), and landscapes The Watering Place (1777), The
Cottage Door (exhibited R.A. 1780). Mountain
Landscape with Peasants Crossing a Bridge (1784), The
Woodsman (1787-1788). He died from cancer on the 3rd of August,
1788 and was buried in Kew.
William Wollaston (1730-1797), a local
landowner, was one of Gainsborough's friends in Ipswich, with whom he shared
his love for music. He was later, from 1768, Member of Parliament
for Ipswich.
See: Thomas Gainsborough. William
Wollaston.
Mrs. Philip Thicknesse, née Anne Ford (1732-1824)
was a gifted musician with a beautiful voice. She was well-educated and
knew five languages. She gave Sunday concerts at her father's house, but
her ambition was to became a professional actress, although her father
forbade it. One day she escaped her home to enter the stage. In 1762 she
married Mr. Philip Thicknesse, a friend and benefactor of Gainsborough's.
See: Thomas Gainsborough. Mrs.
Philip Thicknesse, nee Anne Ford.
The Hon. Mrs. Thomas Graham (1757-1792).
This portrait was created a year after her marriage to Hon. Thomas Graham.
She fell ill and died during her journey to France in 1792. Her remains
were defiled by the mob, as it happened during the French Revolution. Her
husband, who loved her dearly, could not look at the portrait after her
death. He ordered to take it away. The portrait was discovered by his descendants
later and presented to the National Gallery of Scotland.
See: Thomas Gainsborough. The Hon.
Mrs. Thomas Graham. The Honorable
Mrs. Graham.
Mrs. Elliot was a famous courtesan, known
also by the name "Dolly the Tall".
See: Thomas Gainsborough. Mrs.
Elliot.
Johann Christian Fischer (1733-1800) was
one of the most celebrated oboist of his day and a member of the Queen's
Band. He was married to Gainsborough's younger daughter Mary, although
the marriage was short-lived.
See: Thomas Gainsborough. Johann
Christian Fischer.
Mrs. "Perdita" Robinson was an actress,
known as Perdita after her best role in Shakespeare's The Winter Tale.
She had an affair with the Prince of Wales
for over a year. Later the letters written to her by the Prince of Wales
were bought for £5,000 by the King George III to hush up the story.
Although the portrait was created after her affair with the Prince, she
was painted, holding the Prince's miniature in her right hand.
See: Thomas Gainsborough. Mrs.
"Perdita" Robinson.
Giovanna Baccelli (d. 1801), the enchanting
ballet dancer, was the mistress of the Duke of Dorset, who commissioned
this full-length portrait.
See: Thomas Gainsborough. Giovanna
Baccelli.
Prince of Wales, Later George IV (1762-1830),
King of Great Britain, the eldest son of George III. Owing to his father's
derangement, he became Prince Regent in 1811, and succeeded in 1820. Until
the age of 19 the Prince had been kept under strict discipline. At 18 he
had a love affair with an actress Mrs. Robinson,
and at 20 he went through the ceremony of marriage with Mrs.
Fitzherbert, a Roman Catholic: this union was invalid under the English
law. Out of antagonism to his father he affected to be a Whig. In 1795
he married Princess Caroline of Brunswick to have his debts paid by parliament.
He was a man of culture and wit, who left a valuable collection of books
and paintings to the nation.
See: John Singleton Copley. George
IV.
Thomas Gainsborough. George,
Prince of Wales, Later George IV.
George Stubbs. George
IV When Prince of Wales.
Robert Andrews and His Wife Frances.
This
picture was probably commissioned to mark the marriage of Robert Andrews
(?1726-1806), local landowner, to Frances Carter (1723-80) which took place
in November 1748 on All Saints Day, Sudbury. The background is presumably
Ausberies, the Andrews' estate outside Sudbury.
See: Thomas Gainsborough. Robert
Andrews and His Wife Frances.
John Kirby (1690-1753) was the father
of Gainsborough's lifelong friend, the Ipswich painter, Joshua Kirby (1716-74).
See: Thomas Gainsborough. John
Kirby.
John Plampin (1727-1805), a local
landowner.
See: Thomas Gainsborough. John
Plampin.
Robert Price (1717-61), owner of the
estate Foxley in Herefordshire, was a collector, musician and an amateur
artist. His son Uvedale Price (1747-1829) became later a theorist of the
'Picturesque' movement and his idea on the aesthetics of landscapes were
influenced by Gainsborough.
See: Thomas Gainsborough. Robert
Price.
Mary, Countess Howe, née
Hartopp (1732-1800), the wife of an important naval officer.
See: Thomas Gainsborough. Mary,
Countess Howe.
Isabella, Viscountess
Molyneux, née Stanhope (1748-1819). The portrait was commissioned
soon after the marriage of Isabella in 1768, during the newlyweds visit
to Bath in 1769.
See: Thomas Gainsborough. Isabella,
Viscountess Molyneux.
The Blue Boy is assumed to be Jonathan
Buttall (d.1805), the son of a close friend of Gainsborough who owned an
ironmongery in Soho, London.
See: Thomas Gainsborough. The
Blue Boy.
Gainsborough Dupont (1754-94)
was the son of Gainsborough's sister, Sarah, and her husband, Philip Dupont,
a carpenter in Sudbury. Since 1772 he was Gainsborough's pupil, after his
formal apprenticeship was completed he remained with his uncle as a studio
assistant. After the uncle's death, he pursued a career as a portrait painter
and landscapist; his style was wholly influenced by his uncle's.
See: Thomas Gainsborough. Gainsborough
Dupont.
Captain William Wade (d.1809)
from 1769 till 1777 occupied the post of Master of Ceremonies of
the New Assembly Rooms at Bath. His badge of office in the form of a medallion
can be seen around his neck.
See: Thomas Gainsborough. Captain
William Wade.
The Linley
Sisters, daughters of Thomas Linley, a composer who organized concerts
in the Assembly Rooms at Bath. Elizabeth (1754-92), standing on Gainsborough’s
painting, was already renowned as a leading soprano - her voice was compared
to that of a nightingale. Her admirers dubbed her the ‘saint’ because of
her voice and beauty. Mary (1758-87) had just begun her career
as a singer.
In 1772, Elizabeth eloped with Richard Brinsley Sheridan (1751-1816)
famous playwright, to France where they were married in a small village
outside the town of Calais.
There are several portraits of Elizabeth.
Portrait of a Lady in Pink by Reynolds said to be Mrs. Elizabeth
Sheridan. Reynolds also painted a picture of Saint Cecilia at her harp
dated 1775 in which he was supposed to have used Mrs. Sheridan as the model.
Mrs. Richard Brinsley Sheridan, by Gainsborough, painted in
1785. By the time of this portrait Elizabeth was a political wife, as Sheridan
had entered parliament in 1780. Sheridan was spectacularly unfaithful to
his wife, having affairs with several society beauties. Elizabeth would
die from tuberculosis seven years later.
See: Thomas Gainsborough. The Linley
Sisters. Mrs. Richard Brinsley
Sheridan, nee Elizabeth Linley.
Sir Joshua Reynolds. St
Cecillia. Lady in Pink,
Said to be Mrs. Elizabeth Sheridan.
Henry Frederick, Duke of Cumberland
(1745-90),
the King's youngest brother, known for his viciousness and defiant behavior.
He married Mrs. Christopher Horton, a widow so notorious
that Queen Charlotte refused to meet her. Gainsborough painted the Duke
and Duchess on several occasions.
See: Thomas Gainsborough. Mrs.
Christopher Horton, later Anne, Duchess of Cumberland. Henry
Frederick, Duke of Cumberland. Portrait
of Henry, Duke of Cumberland, with the Duchess of Cumberland and Lady Elizabeth
Luttrell.
Carl Friedrich Abel (1725-87)
was a German-born and trained musician and composer, who came to London
in 1759 and pursued a successful career in England. For some time he shared
a house with Johann Christian Bach, more famous German composer, in 1775
they opened their own concert hall in Hanover Square. Abel was a close
friend of Gainsborough. Abel's dog, lying at its owner's feet, was again
portrayed by Gainsborough in
Pomeranian Bitch and Pup.
See: Thomas Gainsborough. Carl
Friedrich Abel. Pomeranian Bitch
and Pup.
Louisa, Lady Clarges, née
Skrine (d.1809), was a talented harpist; she and her husband Sir Thomas
patronized many of the leading professional musicians of the day.
See: Thomas Gainsborough. Louisa,
Lady Clarges.
Philip James de Loutherbourg
(1740-1812) was a German-born painter who had trained and worked in Paris.
After moving to London in 1771 he made his name as a designer of innovative
stage sets for the theater. He also showed landscapes and subject paintings
at the Royal Academy.
See: Thomas Gainsborough. Philip
James de Loutherbourg.
Miss Elizabeth Haverfield
was the daughter of the superintendent gardener at Kew.
See: Thomas Gainsborough. Miss
Haverfield.
The Three Elder Princesses, the three
elder daughters of George III: Princess Augusta (1768-1840) at the left,
Princess Charlotte (1766-1828) in the center, Princess Elizabeth (1770-1840)
seated at the right. The portrait was commissioned at the request of Prince
of Wales, their brother.
See: Thomas Gainsborough. The Three
Elder Princesses.
Bibliography:
Gainsborough: Paintings and Drawings. by J. Hayes. London. 1975.
Thomas Gainsborough. By Ye. Nekrasova. M. 1990.
Painting of Europe. XIII-XX centuries. Encyclopedic Dictionary.
Moscow. Iskusstvo. 1999.
Gainsborough
(World of Art) by William Vaughan, Michael J. Lewis. Thames
& Hudson, 2002.
Gainsborough:
The Painter in Modern Culture by Michael Rosenthal, Martin
Myrone. Tate Gallery Publishing Ltd, 2002.
The
Letters of Thomas Gainsborough by John Hayes. Paul Mellon Center,
2001.
Drawings
of Thomas Gainsborough by John Hayes. Yale Univ Pr, 1971.
Sensation
and Sensibility: Viewing Gainsborough's "Cottage Door" by Ann
Bermingham. Yale University Press, 2005.
Gainsborough
in Bath by Susan Sloman. Paul Mellon Center, 2002.
Gainsborough
And His Place In English Art by Walter Armstrong. Kessinger
Publishing, 2004.