Thomas Gainsborough
Who was Thomas Gainsborough?
English portrait and landscape painter (1727-1788)
Biographical data adapted from Wikipedia’s article on Thomas Gainsborough (CC BY-SA 4.0).
Biography
Thomas Gainsborough was born on May 14, 1727, in Sudbury, Suffolk, England, and was baptized that same day. He was one of nine children in a family with modest means and received his early education at Sudbury Grammar School. With a strong talent for drawing early on, he was sent to London around age thirteen to study art. There, he trained under the French engraver Hubert Gravelot and was influenced by Francis Hayman. These years in London introduced him to the Rococo style and the traditions of Flemish landscape painting, which would significantly shape his later work.
In 1746, Gainsborough married Margaret Burr, an illegitimate daughter of the Duke of Beaufort, who brought an annual annuity of two hundred pounds. The couple first settled in Sudbury, where Gainsborough started painting portraits of local gentry and small-scale landscapes. Some of his notable early works include portraits like Sir George Chad, Baronet of Thursford, and Sarah Rowlls Chad, as well as the renowned double portrait Mr and Mrs Andrews. The Andrews painting, in particular, is now considered a key work of 18th-century British art, showcasing his talents in both portrait and landscape in one piece.
Around 1752, Gainsborough moved to Ipswich, building a reputation as a portrait painter for local professionals and merchants. In 1759, he relocated to Bath, then a fashionable city in England, where his career flourished as he attracted aristocratic and wealthy clients. His portraits from this period became more elegant and fluid, influenced by Van Dyck and other Flemish masters whom he greatly admired. Despite his growing success with portraits, he saw landscape painting as his true calling and continued to paint landscapes throughout his life, often for personal enjoyment rather than for sale.
In 1774, Gainsborough moved to London for good, settling in Schomberg House on Pall Mall. He was a founding member of the Royal Academy of Arts and regularly exhibited there, although he eventually disagreed with the institution over the placement of his paintings and stopped showing his work there in 1784. After that, he held private exhibitions in his home. Alongside Sir Joshua Reynolds, with whom he had both a professional and personal rivalry, Gainsborough was considered one of the top painters in Britain. He died in London on August 2, 1788, reportedly from cancer, and was buried at Kew.
Before Fame
Gainsborough grew up in Sudbury, a market town in Suffolk, where his father, John Gainsborough, ran a wool and crape business. From a young age, he showed a unique talent for drawing the natural world. Local stories suggest he had a lot of freedom to explore the Suffolk countryside, which gave him a lifelong love for rural scenery. His father noticed his talent and arranged for him to go to London as a teenager instead of joining the family business.
In London, Gainsborough studied under Hubert Gravelot, a well-known draughtsman who taught him about the lightness and decorative grace of French Rococo. He also worked with Francis Hayman, learning the conventions of British portraiture and informal conversation pieces. By his early twenties, he returned to Suffolk, settled down with his wife, Margaret Burr, and started building a local portrait practice that would eventually bring him national recognition.
Key Achievements
- Founding member of the Royal Academy of Arts upon its establishment in 1768
- Credited alongside Richard Wilson as a principal originator of the British landscape painting tradition
- Painted Mr and Mrs Andrews, one of the most analysed and celebrated works of eighteenth-century British art
- Secured appointment as a portrait painter to King George III and the royal family
- Pioneered a fluid, loose brushwork technique that influenced subsequent generations of British painters including John Constable
Did You Know?
- 01.Gainsborough reportedly told Sir Joshua Reynolds on his deathbed that 'We are all going to Heaven, and Van Dyck is of the company,' reflecting his lifelong admiration for the Flemish master.
- 02.He played several musical instruments and was deeply passionate about music, often befriending professional musicians and sometimes trading paintings for musical performances or instruments.
- 03.His painting Mr and Mrs Andrews was left unfinished in Mrs Andrews' lap, and art historians have long debated whether a pheasant, a baby, or some other object was originally intended to fill that space.
- 04.Gainsborough invented a type of portable camera obscura and also constructed a peep-show box fitted with transparencies of landscape scenes, which he illuminated from behind with candles to simulate different times of day.
- 05.Although he was a founding member of the Royal Academy, he stopped exhibiting there in 1784 after a dispute over the placement of his full-length portraits of the royal family, which he felt deserved to be hung at eye level.