Thomas Gainsborough (1727-1788), Portrait and landscape painter
Sitter in 8 portraits
Artist associated with 262 portraits
Landscape and portrait painter. Gainsborough worked in his native Sudbury and then Ipswich until 1759 when he moved to Bath and established a fashionable portrait practice. Settling in London in 1774, he was Joshua Reynolds's only real rival as a portrait painter. Gainsborough quarrelled with the Royal Academy over the exhibition of his pictures; he was highly-strung in personality, a lively letter writer and devoted to music; Garrick said 'his cranium is so crammed with genius of every kind that it is in danger of bursting on you like a steam engine overcharged'.
Sarah Kirby (née Bull); John Joshua Kirby
by Thomas Gainsborough
oil on canvas, circa 1751-1752
On display on Floor 2: Getting the Picture at Beningbrough Hall
NPG 1421
by Thomas Gainsborough
oil on canvas, circa 1753
On display on Floor 1: Lady Chesterfield's Dressing Room at Beningbrough Hall
NPG 881
by Thomas Gainsborough
oil on canvas, circa 1755
On display on Floor 1: Lady Chesterfield's Dressing Room at Beningbrough Hall
NPG 2179
by Thomas Gainsborough
oil on canvas, circa 1758-1759
On display in Room 12 at the National Portrait Gallery
NPG 4446
by Thomas Gainsborough
black and white chalk with stump on blue paper, circa 1765
NPG 5081
by Thomas Gainsborough
oil on canvas, circa 1765
NPG 5947
John Russell, 4th Duke of Bedford
by Thomas Gainsborough
oil on canvas, feigned oval, circa 1770
NPG 755
by Thomas Gainsborough
oil on canvas, circa 1773-1775
NPG 980
by Thomas Gainsborough
oil on canvas, feigned oval, circa 1774-1775
NPG 777
by Thomas Gainsborough
oil on canvas, (1776)
On display in Room 12 at the National Portrait Gallery
NPG 5557
by Thomas Gainsborough
oil on canvas, circa 1778
On display in Room 12 at the National Portrait Gallery
NPG 59
Jeffrey Amherst, 1st Baron Amherst
by Thomas Gainsborough
oil on canvas, feigned oval, circa 1780
On display in Room 14 at the National Portrait Gallery
NPG 150
Charles Cornwallis, 1st Marquess Cornwallis
by Thomas Gainsborough
oil on canvas, feigned oval, 1783
On display in Room 14 at the National Portrait Gallery
NPG 281
Charles Howard, 11th Duke of Norfolk
by Thomas Gainsborough
oil on canvas, 1784-1786
On display at Arundel Castle, West Sussex
NPG 5294
James Maitland, 8th Earl of Lauderdale
after Thomas Gainsborough
oil on panel, feigned oval, (circa 1785)
NPG 928
by Francesco Bartolozzi, after Thomas Gainsborough
black and red crayon with pencil and grey wash on paper, circa 1797 (1787-1788)
NPG 1107
by James Macardell, after Thomas Gainsborough
mezzotint, 1763 (1762)
NPG D14729
by James Macardell, after Thomas Gainsborough
mezzotint, mid 18th century
NPG D558
by James Macardell, after Thomas Gainsborough
mezzotint, mid 18th century
NPG D559
All paintings by this artist on the BBC Your Paintings website
Barber, Institute of Fine Arts, Edgbaston, Midlands
Captain Cook Memorial Museum, Whitby, North Yorkshire
Christchurch Mansion, Ipswich, suffolf
Gainsborough's House, Sudbury, Suffolk
Knole, Sevenoaks, Kent
Manchester Art Gallery, Manchester
Sudley House, Liverpool, Merseyside
Waddesdon Manor-the Rothschild Collection, Waddesdon, Buckinghamshire
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