Movement, Style, School or Type of Art
Rococo > Romanticism
Date and Place of Birth
(Baptized) May 14, 1727, Sudbury, England
Life
Gainsborough is best known for his prolific output of fancy portraits, though he himself said that landscapes were his true pleasure. He was in great demand as a portrait artist, and moved through the years from heads and half-lengths, to full-lengths, to groups. His subjects, too, were increasingly important people.
Important Works
- Mr. and Mrs. Robert Andrews, 1748-50
- The Blue Boy, 1770
- Ann Ford (Mrs. Philip Thicknesse), 1781
- Mrs. Sarah Siddons, 1785
- Market Cart, 1787
Date and Place of Death
August 2, 1788, London
Quotes From Thomas Gainsborough
- "Confound the nose, there's no end to it!"
- "I'll not take any thing for it but give (it) to you to twang upon when you can't twang upon Mrs Jackson." - written to his friend William Jackson, in reference to a harp.
Sources and Further Reading
- Hayes, John. Gainsborough (exh. cat.).
London : Tate Gallery, 1980-81.
- Hayes, John. Gainsborough: Paintings and Drawings
London : Phaidon, 1975.
- Kitson, Michael. "Thomas Gainsborough"
The Oxford Companion to Western Art. Ed. Hugh Brigstocke. Oxford University Press, 2001.
Grove Art Online. Oxford University Press, 5 June 2005.
- Rosenthal, Michael (ed.), et al. Thomas Gainsborough.
New York : Harry N Abrams, 2003.
- Rosenthal, Michael. "Gainsborough, Thomas"
Grove Art Online. Oxford University Press, 5 June 2005.
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