William Vaughan puts Gainsborough's work into the context of contemporaneous social and political developments in Britain, and in particular the celebration of original genius in a time of burgeoning entrepreneurial commercialism. He also discusses thoroughly Gainsborough's life and work - his childhood in Suffolk; his 'apprenticeship' in London; his marriage and the birth of his daughters; his move back to Suffolk and the birth of his career; his move to Bath and his incredible success as a society portrait painter; his move to London in 1774 where he reached the peak of his career, despite falling out with the Royal Academy and not being appointed official painter to the King; and his death in 1778.
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William Vaughan is Professor of the History of Art at Birkbeck College, University of London. Among his other books are British Painting: The Golden Age and Romanticism and Art, both of which are also in the World of Art series.
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5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
The sympathetic and agreeable Mr. Gainsborough,
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This review is from: Gainsborough (World of Art) (Paperback)
This is an inexpensive and well-written introduction to one of the most beloved of British painters. Gainsborough emerges as a very human and fun-loving artist who above all else wanted to paint landscapes. He was an important influence on such painters as Constable, Turner, Goya and Delacroix, and is one of the greatest landscape painters of all time (see his lyrical Suffolk landscape c. 1750 now hanging in the Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna).
We learn in this book about the painter's eccentric family and his rise from provincial painter to artistic genius. The book also outlines something of Gainsborough's unique technique, and how the painter would achieve a likeness in a portrait by studying the subject in low-light in order not to get distracted by small details. Gainsborough was also very musical, and possibly loved music as much as painting. He had an almost pathological interest in musical instruments and was a keen amateur musician. Gainsborough painted many important musicians and composers, including Johann Christian Bach (son of the great John Sebastian). There is an endearing anecdote in the book about how the young and impish Gainsborough was not fully respected at his local music (i.e. drinking) club. Specifically, "...Gainsborough was the [...] of jokes and had his wig thrown about the room." As Constable would observe, "...they did not seem to know who they had amongst them until he had left." The book also features some of the sensitive portayals Gainsborough made of his two surviving daughters (an older daughter had died tragically in infancy), made all the more poignant by the distressing realisation that both girls would eventually suffer from mental illness as they reached their twenties. Despite the relatively modest size of the book (8.4 x 6.0 Inches), the quality of the colour reproductions are excellent. However, like Rembrandt, Gainsborough's work suffers especially from reproduction and needs to be seen in the flesh in order to appreciate the brushstrokes and unique handling of paint. We learn that Gainsborough intended the viewer to look up close to his work to get a view of the apparently random and chaotic brush strokes, and then to move back and watch the picture "fall into place" as the more distant perspective allows the subject to form. Apparently he fell out with the Royal Academy because his paintings were not placed at eye-level for the annual exhibitions and thus did not allow for such close scrutiny. This book has made me a fan of this wonderful, approachable and lyrical painter. Highly recommended.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
orsaylady,
By historybooklady (USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Gainsborough (World of Art) (Paperback)
Wonderful overview of Gainsborough's life in 18th century England. Highly recommend it if you are a Georgian art fan like I am.
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