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Thomas Gainsborough

(1727-1788), Portrait and landscape painter

Sitter in 8 portraits
Artist associated with 268 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'.

More on Gainsborough: Gainsborough's Family Album exhibition | Explore the portrait of Thomas Gainsborough by E. Ortner (NPG D2917) from all angles

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Thomas Gainsborough, by Thomas Gainsborough - NPG 4446

Thomas Gainsborough

by Thomas Gainsborough
oil on canvas, circa 1759
On display in Room 18 on Floor 3 at the National Portrait Gallery
NPG 4446

Karl Friedrich Abel, by Thomas Gainsborough - NPG 5081

Karl Friedrich Abel

by Thomas Gainsborough
black and white chalk with stump on blue paper, circa 1765
NPG 5081

Karl Friedrich Abel, by Thomas Gainsborough - NPG 5947

Karl Friedrich Abel

by Thomas Gainsborough
oil on canvas, circa 1765
On display in Room 18 on Floor 3 at the National Portrait Gallery
NPG 5947

Johann Christian Bach, by Thomas Gainsborough - NPG 5557

Johann Christian Bach

by Thomas Gainsborough
oil on canvas, circa 1776
On display in Room 18 on Floor 3 at the National Portrait Gallery
NPG 5557

George Colman the Elder, by Thomas Gainsborough - NPG 59

George Colman the Elder

by Thomas Gainsborough
oil on canvas, circa 1777
On display in Room 18 on Floor 3 at the National Portrait Gallery
NPG 59

Jeffrey Amherst, 1st Baron Amherst, by Thomas Gainsborough - NPG 150

Jeffrey Amherst, 1st Baron Amherst

by Thomas Gainsborough
oil on canvas, feigned oval, circa 1780
On display in Room 10 on Floor 3 at the National Portrait Gallery
NPG 150

Gaetano Appolino Balthasar Vestris (Gaëtan Vestris), by Thomas Gainsborough - NPG 7108

Gaetano Appolino Balthasar Vestris (Gaëtan Vestris)

by Thomas Gainsborough
oil on canvas, oval, circa 1780-1781
On display in Room 18 on Floor 3 at the National Portrait Gallery
NPG 7108

Charles Cornwallis, 1st Marquess Cornwallis, by Thomas Gainsborough - NPG 281

Charles Cornwallis, 1st Marquess Cornwallis

by Thomas Gainsborough
oil on canvas, feigned oval, 1783
On display in Room 10 on Floor 3 at the National Portrait Gallery
NPG 281

John Henderson, by and published by John Jones, after  Thomas Gainsborough - NPG L269.B6.30

John Henderson

by and published by John Jones, after Thomas Gainsborough
mezzotint, published 30 May 1783 (circa 1773-1775)
On display in Room 11 on Floor 3 at the National Portrait Gallery
NPG L269.B6.30

John Henderson, by John Jones, published by  John Sewell, after  Thomas Gainsborough - NPG L269.B6.31

John Henderson

by John Jones, published by John Sewell, after Thomas Gainsborough
stipple engraving, published 1 January 1786
On display in Room 11 on Floor 3 at the National Portrait Gallery
NPG L269.B6.31

Thomas Gainsborough, by Francesco Bartolozzi, after  Thomas Gainsborough - NPG 1107

Thomas Gainsborough

by Francesco Bartolozzi, after Thomas Gainsborough
black and red crayon with pencil and grey wash on paper, circa 1797, based on a work of 1787-1788
NPG 1107

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