Gainsborough, Th
Name: Thomas Gainsborough
Achievements: Portraits of English aristocracy.
Born: Baptised May 14, 1727; Sudbury, Suffolk, England
Died: August 2, 1788; London, England (Aged 61)
Field & Discipline: Art; Painter
Language: English
Father: John Gainsborough (wool manufacturer)
Mother: Susannah Burroughs
Siblings: John; Humphry; Mathias; Robert; Mary; Susannah; Sarah; Elizabeth
Spouse: Margaret Burr
Children: Mary; Margaret
Education: Grammar school, Sudbury.
Major Work:
Portraits of Mr and Mrs Andrews (c1750)
Lady Molyneux (1769)
Mary, Countess Howe, Mrs Graham (1777)
Mrs Siddons (c1783)
Life & Times:
Aged thirteen, Gainsborough went to London and studied for a time with Hubert Gravelot, a French engraver, draughtsman and book illustrator.
Through Gravelot, Gainsborough met many artists, actors, and engravers, including [met] Hogarth*, the artist, who was then involved in the new Hospital for Foundlings. Gainsborough painted "View of the Charterhouse" and gave it to the hospital in 1748.
On one of his visits home to Suffolk, Gainsborough met Margaret Burr, the extremely beautiful, illegitimate daughter of the Duke of Beaufort and who received an income of two hundred pounds per annum paid from the Beaufort estate. In 1746, when Gainsborough was nineteen and she eighteen, they married and took rooms in Hatton Garden.
Gainsborough hoped to make his way as an artist, but he failed to compete successfully in London, so the couple went to Sudbury, where they lived for the next two years. During this time, Gainsborough painted his well-known portrait of a local, newly married couple, Mr and Mrs Robert Andrews.
In 1752, the Gainsborough’s, who by this time had two daughters, moved to the prosperous market town of Ipswich in Suffolk, where they hoped there would be more commissions.
Gainsborough loved the countryside around Ipswich and later said that "Suffolk made me a painter". He painted a few landscapes at this time, including two for the Duke of Bedford, although portraits were in greater demand.
In 1753, he painted Admiral Vernon, a distinguished Royal Naval officer. He painted his wife every year for her birthday, usually in miniature, and painted many pictures of his daughters, of which the most famous is entitled “Painter's daughters chasing a Butterfly”(1758).
His contact with prosperous local merchants and his visits to their houses meant that Gainsborough saw the pictures which many of them had brought back when trading between the low countries, including those by Jacob van Ruysdael, and so was exposed to new influences.
In 1759, when he was thirty-two, Gainsborough and his family moved to a house in the Circus, a fashionable part of Bath, where over the years their neighbours included William Pitt the Elder and [a neighbor was] Clive of India*. A new artist in town customarily hung his work in the Spa Pump Room, as a discreet way of advertising their availability. Gainsborough did so and immediately began to receive commissions
Gainsborough made excellent contacts and became friends with Johann Christian Bach, music master to Queen Charlotte. The composer [commissioned by] Linley* also commissioned him to paint his daughter Elizabeth (who married [knew] Sheridan*, the playwright) and her brother, Tom.
By 1772, Gainsborough was able to send fourteen pictures to London for the exhibition at the Society of Artists.
In 1762, Gainsborough's painting "Mr Poyntz" was shown at the Society of Arts. Poyntz was the uncle of the Duchess of Devonshire and brother of Georgiana, first Countess Spencer. Gainsborough later painted both women, although his portrait of Georgiana remained unfinished, due to her infrequent attendance as a sitter.
In 1765, Gainsborough was made a fellow of the Society for Artists, and travelled to great country houses such as Wilton, Badminton and Longleat, where he saw works of the masters, including [influenced by] Rubens*, and most of all [influenced by] Van Dyck*, whose work considerably influences his style.
In 1768 the Royal Academy was founded. [encouraged by] Sir Joshua Reynolds* wrote and asked him to be a founder member and Gainsborough accepted, although he was not at all interested or concerned in any administrative capacity.
Leaving Bath in 1774, he moved to London, living in Pall Mall in a house owned by John Astley, a painter, who rented the west wing to Gainsborough and the east wing to [a neighbor of] James Graham* (of the Temple of Health fame). In London, Gainsborough used to go with [a pal of] Garrick* to the new auction room, set up by James Christie, (father of [knew father of] Christie*) to promote himself, but he received few commissions at this time.
Instead, he helped Bach to decorate his new music rooms in Hanover Square. Here he met and worked with de Loutherbourg, a set designer who had worked for Garrick and produced effects for Sheridan.
In the 1780's, he began painting what he called his ‘fancy pictures’, which were often of country people with animals, such as "The Cottage Girl with a Bowl of Milk", painted in 1786.
In the early 1780's, he was invited to paint thirteen royal children and in 1782 and 1785 his portrait of the actress [painted] Siddons*caused a sensation. The poet [a fan was] Pope* said Gainsborough was "a man who had a rare capacity to snatch a grace beyond the reach of art".
In February 1788, while attending the first day of the trial of [attended trial of] Hastings* in Westminster, Gainsborough suddenly felt ill. He died in August.
Extra Connections: He was a friend of [a pal of] Burke*
He painted [painted] Smeaton* , [painted] Coke*, the [painted] Duchess of Devonshire*
His work was known to [work known to] Constable*
Painting later bought by [work bought by] JP Morgan*
Assessment: Gainsborough's paintings had a grace and warmth that came from his approach to art. He broke away from classical or mannered styles and painted in a natural unaffected style all of his own.
Oneliner: Thomas Gainsborough, famous English portrait painter
Bibliography:
- Worman, Isabelle, Thomas Gainsborough, A Biography 1727-1728, Terence Dalton Ltd., Suffolk, 1976.