Thomas Gainsborough - The Most Versatile English Painter of the 18th Century

Thomas Gainsborough, The Blue Boy - c. 1770 - Oil on canvas - (177.8 x 112.1 cm) - The Huntington Art Collections, San Marino, California (click photo for larger image)English Rococo Era Romantic painter Thomas Gainsborough (1727-1788) was an accomplished portraitist--in addition to being a truly original landscape painter of his era. The letters of the artist reveal that he was a warm-hearted and generous human being, with an independent mind. His comments on his own work and methods, as well as on some of the old masters, are very revealing and throw considerable light on contemporary views of art. Gainsborough was the most inventive of the 18th century English painters--and was always experimenting with new techniques and approaches--and paid little attention to the academic tradition.