Richard, First Earl Howe

Thomas Gainsborough (1727 - 1788)

One of the most distinguished painters ofc.18th Britain, celebrated for his portraits and landscapes, and a founding member of the Royal Academy of Arts. Born in Sudbury, Suffolk, the youngest son of a cloth merchant, he demonstrated an early aptitude for drawing and was sent to London in his teens to pursue artistic training. There he studied under the French engraver Hubert-François Gravelot and absorbed the influence of continental art, particularly the lightness and elegance of the Rococo style. Gainsborough returned to Suffolk in the 1740s, where he began to establish himself as a portrait painter, though his early ambitions were directed more toward landscape. Works such as “Mr and Mrs Andrews” reveal his attempt to combine both genres, placing sitters within expansive, carefully observed rural settings. Despite his personal preference for landscape painting, it was portraiture that proved more financially rewarding, and his reputation steadily grew. In 1759 Gainsborough moved to Bath, then one of England’s most fashionable social centres, where his career flourished. He became the leading portraitist of the city, attracting an affluent clientele and refining a style marked by fluid brushwork, luminous colour, and an effortless sense of grace. His ability to convey both likeness and atmosphere distinguished him from many contemporaries, and his sitters appear animated rather than rigidly posed. In 1768 he was elected a founding member of the Royal Academy of Arts, though his relationship with the institution was often strained. He resisted its formal exhibition conventions and later withdrew his works after disputes over their hanging. In 1774 Gainsborough relocated to London, where he continued to receive commissions from the aristocracy and even members of the royal family, including King George III and Queen Charlotte. Among his most famous works from this period is “The Blue Boy,” a portrait that exemplifies his virtuosity in handling colour and texture, as well as his admiration for the work of earlier masters such as Anthony van Dyck. Gainsborough died in London in 1788 and was buried at St Anne’s Church, Kew.

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