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  National Gallery

  London, United Kingdom

  76 works

  Daily 10:00–18:00 (Fri until 21:00) · Free

  

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  Tate

  London, United Kingdom

  35 works

  Daily 10:00–18:00 · Free (permanent collection)

  

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  Royal Collection

  London, United Kingdom

  34 works

  Thu–Sun 10:00–17:30 (seasonal; closed during State Rooms open weeks) · £19 adults, £12 under-25

  

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  National Gallery of Art

  Washington D.C., United States

  26 works

  Mon–Sat 10:00–17:00, Sun 11:00–18:00 · Free

  

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  Yale Center for British Art

  New Haven, United States

  37 works

  Tue–Sat 10:00–17:00, Sun 12:00–17:00; closed Mon · Free

  

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  National Trust

  Swindon, United Kingdom

  32 works

  

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Plan your visit to see Thomas Gainsborough →

• How did thomas gainsborough die?+

  Thomas Gainsborough died in 1788 at the age of 61.
• Thomas gainsborough art movement?+

  Thomas Gainsborough blended baroque and rococo elements with a new interest in classicism. He cultivated a new portrait type in the 18th century.
• Was thomas gainsborough a romantic painter?+

  British painting of the 18th century had a mixture of both Romantic and Neoclassical tendencies. Thomas Gainsborough's work showed lyricism, and he always included the natural environment in his portraits; many of them hovered on the edge of being landscapes.
• What did thomas gainsborough paint?+

  Thomas Gainsborough painted portraits and landscapes. He always portrayed something elusive about his sitters' personalities.
• What is thomas gainsborough best known for?+

  Thomas Gainsborough is one of the most famous portrait and landscape painters of 18th-century Britain. He cultivated a new portrait type in the 18th century by blending baroque and rococo elements with a new interest in classicism.
• What is Thomas Gainsborough's most famous work?+

  Thomas Gainsborough is well known for his portraiture. One of his most recognised works is *Mr and Mrs Andrews*, completed around 1750. The sitters were Robert Andrews, a landowner, and his wife Frances, née Carter. Another very famous painting is *The Blue Boy*, a portrait of a young man traditionally said to be Jonathan Buttall, the son of a hardware merchant. The work is a full-length portrait in oil paint, thought to have been completed circa 1770. The sitter wears a blue satin suit, in a style that recalls Anthony van Dyck; Gainsborough admired van Dyck, and this is seen as an homage. *The Blue Boy* is in the collection of the Huntington Library in San Marino, California. It has an interesting exhibition history; it was sold to a British art dealer in 1921, then sold on to Henry Huntington. The sale caused a public outcry in Britain, as it was seen as a national treasure. Before its export to the United States, it was briefly exhibited at the National Gallery. It drew large crowds, keen to see the painting before it left the country.
• What should I know about Thomas Gainsborough's prints?+

  Thomas Gainsborough (1727-1788) is best known as a painter, particularly of portraits. He cultivated a new style of portraiture during the 18th century, blending baroque and rococo elements with an interest in classicism. Born in Sudbury, Suffolk, Gainsborough was apprenticed to the French engraver Hubert Gravelot in London. He became a founding member of the Royal Academy of Arts in 1768, but he did not exhibit there regularly; he was unhappy with how his paintings were displayed. Gainsborough moved to Ipswich, and then to Bath, a fashionable spa resort. There, he secured commissions from wealthy clients. He studied the portraits of the Flemish baroque painter Anthony van Dyck, adopting the device of placing the sitter against a lush background. Gainsborough incorporated a lighter rococo palette and looser brushwork. Although portraiture was his profession, Gainsborough preferred painting landscapes. These did not sell as well as portraits. However, he often combined the two, setting portraits in outdoor settings. Examples include *Mr and Mrs Andrews* (c. 1748-1750) and *The Morning Walk* (1785).
• What style or movement did Thomas Gainsborough belong to?+

  Thomas Gainsborough is associated with the British portrait and art movements of the 18th century. He moved away from the formal baroque styles that dominated earlier portraiture. He favoured a lighter touch, influenced by Anthony van Dyck and French rococo. Gainsborough's style is characterised by its grace, soft colours, and delicate brushwork. He often painted his sitters in relaxed poses, set within informal outdoor settings. This contrasted with the more rigid conventions of earlier portraiture. He was a founding member of the Royal Academy in 1768; however, he later exhibited less frequently due to disputes with the Academy's administration. Besides portraiture, Gainsborough also produced landscapes, often imbued with a sense of romanticism and the picturesque aesthetic. His approach to both portraiture and landscape contributed to a distinctly British school of painting, one that favoured naturalism and individual expression over strict adherence to classical ideals.
• What techniques or materials did Thomas Gainsborough use?+

  Thomas Gainsborough was apprenticed to a French engraver around 1740. He also gained painting experience through copying and restoring seventeenth-century Dutch paintings. Gainsborough favoured warm, red-brown colours for the ground layer of his paintings. Contemporary accounts say he worked in subdued light to assess his subject in basic shapes and tonal areas, free from detail. He began with a chalk drawing, then applied rapid strokes of black, umber, lake, or white paint, followed by thinned washes of colour to 'block out' the form. These thin washes resembled watercolour and served as a tonal underlay. He applied translucent, opaque, and glazing colours rapidly in a wet-in-wet technique, working into or over the washes. The drapery and background were completed last, with glazes and loose, scumbled strokes. Alterations are often visible, and X-rays reveal changes made near completion. Gainsborough used a pure white pigment, Cremona white, possibly bound in poppy oil for its transparency. He constructed an illuminated box to show transparencies painted in oil and varnish on glass, lit from behind.
• What was thomas gainsborough famous for?+

  Thomas Gainsborough is famous for cultivating a new portrait type in the 18th century. He blended baroque and rococo elements with a new interest in classicism.
• When did Thomas Gainsborough live and work?+

  Thomas Gainsborough was born in Sudbury, Suffolk in 1727 and died in London in 1788. He is known as one of the most famous British portrait and landscape painters of the 18th century. Around the age of 13, Gainsborough's drawing skills led his family to allow him to study art in London. There, he trained under Hubert Gravelot, a French designer and engraver, and became associated with William Hogarth. He was also influenced by Francis Hayman. Around 1748 or 1749, Gainsborough returned to his birthplace and began working in portraiture. He secured the landed gentry of Suffolk as his primary patrons. In about 1752, Gainsborough established himself as a portrait painter in Ipswich, Suffolk. By 1759, he had moved with his family to Bath, a fashionable spa resort. The wealthy visitors to Bath provided him with many commissions. In Bath, he studied the portraits of Anthony van Dyck and incorporated a lighter rococo palette and looser brushstrokes into his own style.
• Who did Thomas Gainsborough influence?+

  Thomas Gainsborough's influence can be seen particularly among later landscape painters. His approach, which combined elements of the Baroque and Rococo with an interest in classicism, made him one of the most famous artists of the 18th century. Gainsborough's style set him apart from contemporaries such as Joshua Reynolds. Gainsborough had an easy-going attitude, and his light, rapid brushstrokes and delicate colours made him a favourite painter of the royal family. Although George III appointed Reynolds as his principal painter, he also commissioned work from Gainsborough. Gainsborough was born in Suffolk in 1727. He trained under Hubert Gravelot, a French designer and engraver based in London, and was also associated with William Hogarth. Gainsborough's early career involved portraiture in Ipswich and later in Bath, where he studied the portraits of Anthony van Dyck. Van Dyck often posed sitters against a lush background; Gainsborough adopted this, adding a lighter Rococo palette. His rural scenes were painted in a manner usually reserved for historical or religious subjects, demonstrating the legitimacy of everyday themes in art. Gainsborough's visions of rural life were intended to please and to provoke reflection.