Thomas Gainsborough (1727-1788) painter: self portrait

  • About the work
    Location
    Country: UK
    City: London
    Place: Government Art Collection
  • About the artist
    One of the founders of the 18th-century British landscape school, Thomas Gainsborough was also the creator of the so-called ‘fancy picture’, depicting rustic figures - usually children - posed in rural settings. Born in Suffolk, he studied in London from about 1739 to 1748 under the French painter and engraver Hubert Gravelot and the British painter Francis Hayman at the St Martin’s Lane Academy. Gainsborough returned to Suffolk in 1748, where he worked as a landscape and portrait painter until 1759, before moving to Bath. There he quickly developed into a much sought-after society painter. In 1774, he moved to London where he exhibited his work in his studio. He died in London in 1788.
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  • Details
    Title
    Thomas Gainsborough (1727-1788) painter: self portrait
    Date
    published 27 November 1810
    Medium
    Stipple engraving
    Dimensions
    height: 42.20 cm, width: 31.90 cm
    Acquisition
    Purchased from Grosvenor Prints, May 2002
    Provenance
    With Grosvenor Prints, London; from whom purchased by the Government Art Collection in May 2002
    GAC number
    17697