1727 -1788 · English portrait and passion for landscape

Vibrant fabrics, aristocratic silhouettes and luminous campaigns make Gainsborough the sensitive master of English portraiture.

Thomas Gainsborough was born in Sudbury in Suffolk in 1727 and died in London in 1788. Sent to London around the age of fourteen, he trained with the French engraver Hubert-François Gravelot and attended the circle of St Martin's Lane Academy. After his marriage to Margaret Burr, he returned to Sudbury then worked in Ipswich, where portraits and landscapes gradually ensured his clientele. The Andrews Spouses, around 1750, united the couple and their estate in a triple social, marital and territorial portrait. The Andrews Spouses, around 1750, united the couple and their estate in a triple social, marital and territorial portrait. Installed in Bath in 1759, Gainsborough studied Van Dyck and developed full-length portraits with a more fluid touch, shiny fabrics and elegant poses. In London from 1774, he became, with Joshua Reynolds, the main portraitist of British society. Sarah Siddons, famous actress, receives an intellectual and theatrical presence without being locked into a role. The Honorable Mrs Graham combines grace, color and movement in one of her most admired portraits. Despite commissions, Gainsborough says he prefers landscape: Cornard Wood, woods, paths, carts and animals show his enduring attachment to the Suffolk countryside. A founding member of the Royal Academy, he nevertheless maintains a sometimes conflicting relationship with his exhibitions. A quick touch, its silver browns, its blues and its feathery foliage connect portrait and nature in the same feeling of life. The "Thomas Gainsborough" selection notably compares The Andrews Husbands and Mrs. Siddons. Its reading favors details.

Gainsborough makes the portrait breathe: fabric, face, tree and cloud participate in the same movement of light.