Thomas Gainsborough 1727-1788)Thomas Gainsborough was born in Sudbury in the southern English county of Suffolk in 1727. Around 1740 the young artist left for London, where he became a pupil of the French art teacher and engraver Gravelot. Gainsborough's favourite genre was landscape painting. As a landscapist he drew his inspiration from the French painter Watteau; also a significant influence were the seventeenth-century Dutch masters. Gainsborough produced landscape compositions conjuring up the atmosphere and mood of the English countryside. While he rarely sold his landscapes, he was deluged by patrons who wanted him to paint their portrait. In court circles his reputation rivalled that of his contemporary Joshua Reynolds. Gainsborough became the most celebrated portrait painter of his day. |
