Portrait of Thomas Gainsborough

Thomas Gainsborough Painting Reproductions 5 of 10

1727-1788

English Rococo Painter

Thomas Gainsborough (May 14, 1727 (baptised) - August 2, 1788) was one of the most famous portrait and landscape painters of 18th century Britain.

Gainsborough was born in 1727 in Sudbury, Suffolk, England. His father was a schoolteacher involved with the wool trade. At the age of fourteen he impressed his father with his pencilling skills so that he let him go to London to study art in 1740. In London he first trained under engraver Hubert Gravelot but eventually became associated with William Hogarth and his school. One of his mentors was Francis Hayman. In those years he contributed to the decoration of what is now the Thomas Coram Foundation for Children and the supper boxes at Vauxhall Gardens.

In the 1740s, Gainsborough married Margaret Burr whose illegitimate father, The Duke of Beaufort, gave them a £200 annuity. His work, which was mainly composed of landscape paintings, was not selling very well. He returned to Sudbury in 1748-1749 and concentrated on the painting of portraits.

In 1752, he and family, now including two daughters, moved to Ipswich. Commissions for personal portraits increased but his clientele included mainly local merchants and squires. He had to borrow against his wife's annuity.

In 1759, Gainsborough and his family moved to Bath. There he studied portraits by van Dyck and was eventually able to attract better-paying high society clientele. 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 to the Royal Academy's annual exhibitions. He selected portraits of known or notorious clients to attract attention. Exhibitions helped him to gain a national reputation and he was invited to become one of the founding members of Royal Academy in 1769. His relationship with the academy, however, was not an easy one and he stopped exhibiting his paintings there in 1773.

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 in the Royal Academy, with portraits of contemporary celebrities, including the Duke and Duchess of Cumberland, related to the royal family. These exhibitions 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 to state in what form he wished his work to be exhibited. However, in 1783 he took his paintings from the forthcoming exhibition and moved 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. Gainsborough still remained the favourite painter of the Royal Family.

In his later years, he often painted landscapes of common settings. With Richard Wilson, he was one of the originators of the eighteenth-century British landscape school, and with Joshua Reynolds, he was the dominant British portraitist of the second half of the 18th century.

Gainsborough painted more from his observations of nature than from any application of formal 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 best 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 uniqueness (individuality) of his subjects. His only assistant was his nephew Gainsborough Dupont.

Gainsborough died of cancer on 2 August 1788 in his 62nd year.

224 Gainsborough Paintings

Mrs. Grace Dalrymple Elliott, 1778 by Gainsborough | Painting Reproduction

Mrs. Grace Dalrymple Elliott 1778

Oil Painting
$1612
Canvas Print
$50.22
SKU: GAT-9876
Thomas Gainsborough
Original Size: 234.3 x 153.7 cm
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, USA

Portrait of a Young Woman (Miss Sparrow), n.d. by Gainsborough | Painting Reproduction

Portrait of a Young Woman (Miss Sparrow) n.d.

Oil Painting
$1245
Canvas Print
$55.69
SKU: GAT-9877
Thomas Gainsborough
Original Size: 76.5 x 63.2 cm
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, USA

Wooded Upland Landscape, c.1783 by Gainsborough | Painting Reproduction

Wooded Upland Landscape c.1783

Oil Painting
$1137
Canvas Print
$52.61
SKU: GAT-9878
Thomas Gainsborough
Original Size: 120.3 x 147.6 cm
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, USA

Portrait of a Man (General Blyth), n.d. by Gainsborough | Painting Reproduction

Portrait of a Man (General Blyth) n.d.

Oil Painting
$1170
Canvas Print
$55.95
SKU: GAT-9879
Thomas Gainsborough
Original Size: 75 x 63 cm
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, USA

Charles Rousseau Burney, c.1775/80 by Gainsborough | Painting Reproduction

Charles Rousseau Burney c.1775/80

Oil Painting
$1193
Canvas Print
$53.89
SKU: GAT-9880
Thomas Gainsborough
Original Size: 76.8 x 63.8 cm
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, USA

Mrs. William Tennant (Mary Wylde), c.1780/88 by Gainsborough | Painting Reproduction

Mrs. William Tennant (Mary Wylde) c.1780/88

Oil Painting
$1290
Canvas Print
$52.61
SKU: GAT-9881
Thomas Gainsborough
Original Size: 125.7 x 101.6 cm
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, USA

A Rest by the Way, c.1780 by Gainsborough | Painting Reproduction

A Rest by the Way c.1780

Paper Art Print
$47.83
SKU: GAT-9882
Thomas Gainsborough
Original Size: 23.2 x 27.7 cm
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, USA

Landscape with Figures, n.d. by Gainsborough | Painting Reproduction

Landscape with Figures n.d.

Paper Art Print
$47.83
SKU: GAT-9883
Thomas Gainsborough
Original Size: 19.5 x 15 cm
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, USA

Wooded Landscape with Cows beside a Pool, Figures and Cottage, c.1775/80 by Gainsborough | Painting Reproduction

Wooded Landscape with Cows beside a Pool, Figures ... c.1775/80

Paper Art Print
$47.83
SKU: GAT-9884
Thomas Gainsborough
Original Size: 26 x 33.2 cm
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, USA

Wooded Landscape with Herdsmen and Cows, c.1780/88 by Gainsborough | Painting Reproduction

Wooded Landscape with Herdsmen and Cows c.1780/88

Paper Art Print
$47.83
SKU: GAT-9885
Thomas Gainsborough
Original Size: 27.6 x 34.7 cm
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, USA

Woodland Scene with a Peasant, a Horse, and a Cart, c.1760 by Gainsborough | Painting Reproduction

Woodland Scene with a Peasant, a Horse, and a Cart c.1760

Paper Art Print
$47.83
SKU: GAT-9886
Thomas Gainsborough
Original Size: 24.1 x 32.2 cm
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, USA

Open Landscape with Herdsman, Cows, and Sheep, c.1785 by Gainsborough | Painting Reproduction

Open Landscape with Herdsman, Cows, and Sheep c.1785

Paper Art Print
$47.83
SKU: GAT-9887
Thomas Gainsborough
Original Size: 25.2 x 31.8 cm
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, USA

Wooded Landscape with Cottage, Cows and Sheep, c.1770 by Gainsborough | Painting Reproduction

Wooded Landscape with Cottage, Cows and Sheep c.1770

Paper Art Print
$47.83
SKU: GAT-9888
Thomas Gainsborough
Original Size: 22.4 x 32 cm
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, USA

Mountain Landscape with Figures and Buildings, c.1770 by Gainsborough | Painting Reproduction

Mountain Landscape with Figures and Buildings c.1770

Paper Art Print
$47.83
SKU: GAT-9889
Thomas Gainsborough
Original Size: 26.2 x 40.5 cm
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, USA

Mountain Landscape with a Castle and a Boatman, c.1780 by Gainsborough | Painting Reproduction

Mountain Landscape with a Castle and a Boatman c.1780

Paper Art Print
$47.83
SKU: GAT-9890
Thomas Gainsborough
Original Size: 26.9 x 33.4 cm
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, USA

Coastal Scene with Shipping and Cattle, c.1781/82 by Gainsborough | Painting Reproduction

Coastal Scene with Shipping and Cattle c.1781/82

Oil Painting
$1143
Canvas Print
$54.54
SKU: GAT-9891
Thomas Gainsborough
Original Size: 76 x 63.5 cm
Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, USA

Wooded Landscape with a Woodcutter, c.1762/63 by Gainsborough | Painting Reproduction

Wooded Landscape with a Woodcutter c.1762/63

Oil Painting
$1229
Canvas Print
$60.33
SKU: GAT-9892
Thomas Gainsborough
Original Size: 100.3 x 126.7 cm
Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, USA

Colonel John Bullock, c.1770/75 by Gainsborough | Painting Reproduction

Colonel John Bullock c.1770/75

Oil Painting
$1493
SKU: GAT-9893
Thomas Gainsborough
Original Size: 227.3 x 152.4 cm
Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, USA

Mrs. Edmund Morton Pleydell, c.1765 by Gainsborough | Painting Reproduction

Mrs. Edmund Morton Pleydell c.1765

Oil Painting
$1924
Canvas Print
$50.22
SKU: GAT-9894
Thomas Gainsborough
Original Size: 126.4 x 104.8 cm
Boston Museum of Fine Arts, Massachusetts, USA

Mrs. Thomas Mathews, n.d. by Gainsborough | Painting Reproduction

Mrs. Thomas Mathews n.d.

Oil Painting
$1112
Canvas Print
$50.22
SKU: GAT-9895
Thomas Gainsborough
Original Size: 76.8 x 64.7 cm
Boston Museum of Fine Arts, Massachusetts, USA

Captain Thomas Mathews, c.1772 by Gainsborough | Painting Reproduction

Captain Thomas Mathews c.1772

Oil Painting
$1100
Canvas Print
$50.22
SKU: GAT-9896
Thomas Gainsborough
Original Size: 77.5 x 64.5 cm
Boston Museum of Fine Arts, Massachusetts, USA

A Coastal Landscape, c.1782/84 by Gainsborough | Painting Reproduction

A Coastal Landscape c.1782/84

Oil Painting
$1177
Canvas Print
$52.87
SKU: GAT-9897
Thomas Gainsborough
Original Size: 63.5 x 76.2 cm
Private Collection

Wooded Landscape with Cattle and Goats, n.d. by Gainsborough | Painting Reproduction

Wooded Landscape with Cattle and Goats n.d.

Paper Art Print
$47.83
SKU: GAT-9898
Thomas Gainsborough
Original Size: 22.9 x 29.2 cm
Private Collection

Mrs. Richard Brinsley Sheridan, c.1785/87 by Gainsborough | Painting Reproduction

Mrs. Richard Brinsley Sheridan c.1785/87

Oil Painting
$1461
Canvas Print
$50.22
SKU: GAT-9899
Thomas Gainsborough
Original Size: 220 x 154 cm
National Gallery of Art, Washington, USA

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