Thomas Gainsborough (christened 14 May 1727 – 2 August 1788) was one of the most famous portrait and landscape painters of 18th century Britain. Image File history File links Download high resolution version (2024x2105, 160 KB) Description: Title: de: Selbstporträt Technique: de: Öl auf Leinwand Dimensions: Country of origin: de: Großbritanien Current location (city): de: London Current location (gallery): de: National Portrait Gallery Other notes: Source: The Yorck Project: DVD-ROM, 2002. ... May 14 is the 134th day of the year (135th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Events 1727 to 1800 - Lt. ... Sudbury is a small, ancient market town in the county of Suffolk, England, on the River Stour, 15 miles from Colchester and 60 miles from London. ... Suffolk (pronounced ) is a large historic and modern non-metropolitan county in East Anglia, England. ... For other uses, see England (disambiguation). ... is the 214th day of the year (215th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1788 was a leap year starting on Tuesday (see link for calendar). ... This article is about the English as an ethnic group and nation. ... Painting by Rembrandt self-portrait Detail from Las Meninas by Diego Velazquez, in which the painter portrayed himself at work For the computer graphics program, see Corel Painter. ... May 14 is the 134th day of the year (135th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Events 1727 to 1800 - Lt. ... is the 214th day of the year (215th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1788 was a leap year starting on Tuesday (see link for calendar). ... (17th century - 18th century - 19th century - more centuries) As a means of recording the passage of time, the 18th century refers to the century that lasted from 1701 through 1800. ...

Life

Suffolk

Gainsborough was born in Sudbury, Suffolk, England. His father was a weaver involved with the wool trade. At the age of thirteen 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. Sudbury is a small, ancient market town in the county of Suffolk, England, on the River Stour, 15 miles from Colchester and 60 miles from London. ... Suffolk (pronounced ) is a large historic and modern non-metropolitan county in East Anglia, England. ... For other uses, see England (disambiguation). ... This article is about the capital of England and the United Kingdom. ... Hubert François Bourguignon (1699-1773), commonly known as Gravelot, was a French designer and engraver. ... William Hogarth (November 10, 1697 – October 26, 1764) was a major English painter, printmaker, pictorial satirist, and editorial cartoonist who has been credited as a pioneer in western sequential art. ... Francis Hayman (1708 - 2 February 1776) was an English painter and illustrator who became one of the founding members of the Royal Academy in 1768 and later its first librarian. ... The Thomas Coram Foundation for Children, London, formerly known as the Foundling Hospital, currently named the Coram Family, was founded in 1739 by the philanthropic sea captain Thomas Coram who was appalled to see abandoned babies and children starving and dying in the streets of London. ... A prospect of Vauxhall Gardens in 1751. ...

In the 1740s, Gainsborough married Margaret Burr, an illegitimate daughter of the Duke of Beaufort, who settled a £200 annuity on the couple. The artist's work, then mainly composed of landscape paintings, was not selling very well. He returned to Sudbury in 1748–1749 and concentrated on the painting of portraits. Henry Scudamore, 3rd Duke of Beaufort (March 23, 1707 – February 26, 1745 He died at the age of 38. ... For other uses, see Portrait (disambiguation). ...

Gainsborough's Mr and Mrs Andrews (1748-49), in the National Gallery in London, is the best known painting of his Suffolk period.

In 1752, he and his 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. Image File history File links Download high resolution version (1190x689, 136 KB) Summary Mr and Mrs Andrews by Thomas Gainsborough (1748-49). ... Image File history File links Download high resolution version (1190x689, 136 KB) Summary Mr and Mrs Andrews by Thomas Gainsborough (1748-49). ... Mr and Mrs Andrews (1750) is an oil painting by Thomas Gainsborough. ... Londons National Gallery, founded in 1824, houses a rich collection of over 2,300 paintings dating from the mid-13th century to 1900 in its home on Trafalgar Square. ... For other uses, see Ipswich (disambiguation). ...

Bath

In 1759, Gainsborough and his family moved to Bath. There, he studied portraits by van Dyck and was eventually able to attract a 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 on, he submitted works to the Royal Academy's annual exhibitions. He selected portraits of well-known or notorious clients in order to attract attention. These exhibitions helped him acquire a national reputation, and he was invited to become one of the founding members of the Royal Academy in 1769. His relationship with the academy, however, was not an easy one and he stopped exhibiting his paintings there in 1773. , Bath is a small city in Somerset, England most famous for its historic baths fed by three hot springs. ... Self Portrait With a Sunflower Sir Anthony (Antoon) van Dyck (*March 22, 1599 - December 9, 1641) was a Flemish painter — mainly of portraits — who became the leading court painter in England. ... The Royal Society for the encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce (RSA) is a British multi-disciplinary institution, based in London. ... The Royal Academy of Arts is an art institution based in Burlington House on Piccadilly, London, England. ...

The Blue Boy, painted 1770

Download high resolution version (1576x2375, 261 KB) Wikipedia does not have an article with this exact name. ... Download high resolution version (1576x2375, 261 KB) Wikipedia does not have an article with this exact name. ... The Blue Boy (c. ...

London

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 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. Schomberg House is a mansion on the south side of Pall Mall in central London which has a colourful history. ... This article is about the London street. ...

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 and allowed him to dictate the manner in which he wished his work to be exhibited. However, in 1783, he removed his paintings from the forthcoming exhibition and transferred them to Schomberg House. George III redirects here. ...

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, however Gainsborough remained the Royal Family's favorite painter. At his own express wish, he was buried at St. Anne's Church, Kew, where the Family regularly worshipped. Portrait of David Hume by Allan Ramsay, 1766. ... Sir Joshua Reynolds in a self-portrait Colonel Acland and Lord Sydney, The Archers, 1769. ... Kew is a place in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames in South West London. ...

In his later years, Gainsborough often painted relatively simple, ordinary landscapes. With Richard Wilson, he was one of the originators of the eighteenth-century British landscape school; though simultaneously, in conjunction with Joshua Reynolds, he was the dominant British portraitist of the second half of the 18th century. Lake Avernus I, by Richard Wilson, c. ... Self-portrait by Vincent Van Gogh A portrait is a painting, photograph, or other artistic representation of a person. ... (17th century - 18th century - 19th century - more centuries) As a means of recording the passage of time, the 18th century refers to the century that lasted from 1701 through 1800. ...

Mr and Mrs William Hallett (1785) exemplifies Gainsborough's mature style.

Mrs Thomas Hibbert, Neue Pinakothek

Image File history File links Download high-resolution version (833x1100, 174 KB) From en:Image:Mr and Mrs William Hallett. ... Image File history File links Download high-resolution version (833x1100, 174 KB) From en:Image:Mr and Mrs William Hallett. ... Image File history File linksMetadata Gainsborough-Mrs. ... Image File history File linksMetadata Gainsborough-Mrs. ... The Neue Pinakothek (New Pinakothek) is an art museum in Munich, Germany. ...

Art and commentary

Gainsborough painted more from his observations of nature (and human nature) than from any application of formal academic 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." A self portrait by John Constable John Constable (11 June 1776 – 31 March 1837) was an English Romantic painter. ...

His most famous 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 unique individuality of his subjects.

Gainsborough's only known assistant was his nephew, Gainsborough Dupont.

He died of cancer on 2 August 1788 in his 62nd year. Cancer is a class of diseases or disorders characterized by uncontrolled division of cells and the ability of these to spread, either by direct growth into adjacent tissue through invasion, or by implantation into distant sites by metastasis (where cancer cells are transported through the bloodstream or lymphatic system). ... is the 214th day of the year (215th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1788 was a leap year starting on Tuesday (see link for calendar). ...

See also

• English school of painting
• British art
• List of British painters
• Humphrey Gainsborough
• Holywells Park, Ipswich
• Gainsborough paintings
• Western painting

The English school of painting is an expression for English (or British) painters who produced characteristically English paintings. ... British Art is the art of the island of Britain. ... The following is a partial list of British painters (in chronological order): // George Gower (c. ... Humphrey Gainsborough (1718–1776), a non-conformist minister, engineer and inventor. ... Holywells Park as portrayed by Thomas Gainsborough Holywells Park is a 67 acre public park in Ipswich, England situated between Nacton Road and Cliff Lane, near the docks. ... See also Western art, History of painting, History of art, Art history, Painting, Outline of painting history Jan Vermeer, Girl with a Pearl Earring, known as the Mona Lisa of the North 1665-1667 Édouard Manet, The Balcony 1868 The history of Western painting represents a continuous, though disrupted, tradition...

In Fiction

• Kitty (1945) is a notable fictional film about Gainsborough, portrayed by Cecil Kellaway.
• Gainsborough has an important posthumous role in the alternate history novel The Two Georges by Harry Turtledove.
• In Darwyn Cooke's revival of the classic comic book series The Spirit, heroine Silk Satin nicknames the eponymous protagonist "Gainsborough" because of his blue outfit, in a silly reference to Gainsborough's most famous painting.

Cecil Kellaway (August 22, 1893 – February 28, 1973), born in Cape Town, South Africa, was an Academy Award-nominated British actor. ... Alternative history or alternate history can be: A History told from an alternative viewpoint, rather than from the view of imperialist, conqueror, or explorer. ... The Two Georges is an alternate history novel co-written by science fiction author Harry Turtledove and Oscar-winning actor Richard Dreyfuss. ... Harry Norman Turtledove (born June 14, 1949) is an American historian and prolific novelist who has written historical fiction, fantasy, and science fiction works. ... For the religious or spiritual meaning of The Spirit, see Spirit. ...

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to:

Thomas Gainsborough

• Webmuseum Paris: Thomas Gainsborough
• Gainsborough's Showbox. Paintings & Drawings. Victoria and Albert Museum. Retrieved on 2007-08-21.