"Conversational portraits" and magnificent landscapes of Thomas Gainsborough - an artist whose work you will not see in museums in Russia

2024 Author: Richard Flannagan | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-15 23:55

More than 250 years have passed since Gainsborough painted his last painting. But the interest of art lovers is still riveted to his work, and art critics collect information about his artistic talent literally bit by bit.

Gainsborough art style

Thomas Gainsborough, born in 1727, was an English portrait and landscape painter. Born in Sudbury, Suffolk. He studied in London and was a founding member of the Royal Academy, later becoming the favorite artist of King George III and his family, as well as the brightest and most unique representative of the era, who changed the world of art. Thomas Gainsborough was one of the most famous portrait and landscape painters in Britain in the 18th century. Feathered brushstroke style and rich sense of color contributed to the active popularization of his portraits.

The artistic development of Thomas Gainsborough as a master took place at an important moment in history, when a renaissance took place in British culture, affecting not only the visual arts, but also theater, music and literature. The artistic style of Thomas Gainsborough was greatly influenced by the teachers of the London Academy of St. Martin, led by the famous William Hogarth, and also by the leading representatives of the art schools of continental Europe. Throughout his life, Gainsborough learned from the old masters and developed his own style, different from the official, generally accepted at the time. Gainsborough's work played a decisive role in the formation of the British school of painting.

Landscape

Gainsborough always said that his first love was the landscape. He began to study the language of this art from the Dutch landscape painters of the 17th century, who by 1740 had become very popular among English collectors. Gainsborough's first landscapes were influenced by Ian Weinants. The earliest dated painting with a landscape background is the Bull Terrier Bumper (1745). Gainsborough's most significant London mentor was Hubert-François Bourguignon, aka Gravelot, a French Rococo painter. It was his influence that allowed Gainsborough to combine his favorite landscape with the popular portrait genre. Inspired by pastoral Rococo compositions, Gainsborough began to work in the so-called "conversation" genre. Images of people against a landscape gave the artist a unique opportunity to combine portrait with landscape.

Gainsborough was the only 18th century British portrait painter to paint landscapes with great skill, and the only contemporary artist to overshadow his reputation was the first president of the Royal Academy of Arts - Sir Joshua Reynolds himself.

Portraits

Thomas Gainsborough has successfully displayed his skills in various genres. However, only private portraits could provide a solid reputation and decent income for the British artist of the second half of the 18th century. In this regard, Gainsborough felt constant competition from other artists (given that British clients often hired different portrait painters for the same order). A significant feature in Gainsborough's work is confidence and efficiency. Unlike many of his colleagues, Gainsborough did not have assistants, but painted more than 1,300 paintings. It is believed that the artist painted the famous portrait of Samuel Linley in just 90 minutes. Soon after his death, one of his portraits was sold for just one guinea, and already in 1922 the famous "Blue Boy" (or "Boy in Blue") was sold for a fabulous £ 148,000.

One of the main features of 18th century British fine art is the extraordinary flowering of child portraits. Many artists have recognized this genre. Gainsborough did not stand aside: he also showed his professionalism in creating a child portrait, emphasizing the fragility of this tender age.

The portraits of Thomas Gainsborough shaped the modern understanding of British society at the time and embodied the cultural spirit of the British aristocracy. He transformed 18th century British art by being the first to see the personality of the model behind the outer shell. History has brought to us the words of the artist: "I paint portraits because I need to live on something, landscapes because I love to write them, but I do music at the behest of my heart."

One of the best works of the artist

Thomas Gainsborough's painting "A Trip to the Market" in 1773 has been named one of the artist's finest works. It depicts a group of people on horseback traveling through the countryside and passing alongside a beggar mother and child. The heroes are accompanied by a beautiful masterful landscape in the spirit of Gainsborough: a soft brush, a faded monochromatic palette (brown-gray-green) and his calling card - trees. Many argue that Gainsborough's paintings can be recognized by the trees (I agree with them). These are always bunchy feathery branches of trees, usually bent to the side, and their leaves are painted in a dark green scale.

Thanks to the brilliantly depicted figures and gracefully modulated silvery light, the artist managed to create a lyrical and delightful morning image. The painting was sold to a private seller at Sotheby's in July 2019 for £ 8 million.