Thomas Gainsborough

Thomas Gainsborough
(1727-1788)



Thomas Gainsborough was born and educated in Sudbury before he moved to London to develop his skills as an artist. He was quickly adopted by a circle of painters and draughtsmen who admired the work of William Hogarth and he contributed to a number of important artistic ventures including the decoration of the Court Room at the Foundling Hospital (now the Thomas Coram Foundation for Children) and the supper boxes at Vauxhall Gardens. There is some evidence that he was regarded as a specialist landscape painter at this early period and he contributed to the background of at least one portrait by another artist. He married in 1746 and returned to Sudbury early in 1749.

In his native town he painted his first masterpiece, Mr and Mrs Robert Andrews (London, National Gallery), a conversation piece much in the style of the work of one of his teachers in London, Francis Hayman. After the birth of his two daughters he moved to Ipswich which gave him more opportunity to obtain portrait commissions. He developed a naturalistic approach to portraiture by abandoning 'conversation pieces' and painting a number of straight forward head-and-shoulder portraits. By 1758 he felt that he should see whether his work was acceptable to a more discerning public and he visited Bath. After about six months it was clear that there was a ready market for his portraits and he moved to the city with his family late the following year.

Under the influence of van Dyck, Rubens and Claude his style developed rapidly and by 1761 he was contributing exceptional work to the annual Society of Artists exhibitions in London. Uniquely known to catch a good likeness, he gradually assimilated this quality with the grandeur of van Dyck and by the time he showed his work at the inaugural exhibition of the Royal Academy in 1769 his skill was unassailable. Portraits such as the Blue Boy (San Marino, Huntington Art Gallery) and Abel Moysey MP (Gainsborough's House loan) show him to be both commanding and humane and landscapes like Peasants and Colliers (private collection) show him at the peak of his powers.

In 1774, perhaps because he declined to exhibit at the Academy, he moved to London. At Schomberg House in Pall Mall he built a studio in the garden and he continued to attract a wide clientele. Three years later he began to work for the Royal family which prompted him to exhibit at the Academy once more. The Watering Place (London, National Gallery), which was included in the 1777 exhibition, was described by one commentator as 'by far the finest Landscape ever painted in England'. In 1784 he finally broke with the Academy after they refused to hang another Royal portrait as he wished. Instead he began to hold annual exhibitions of his work at Schomberg House.

After visiting Antwerp and the Lake District Gainsborough began to select his sitters more carefully and develop 'fancy' pictures which were based on the work of Murillo and attempted to rival Old Master paintings. He contracted cancer and died on 2 August 1788. Reputedly his last words were: 'We are all going to Heaven, and Van Dyke is of the company'.