The Painter's Two Daughters
Oil Painting
ca. 1758 (painted)
ca. 1758 (painted)
| Artist/Maker |
Object Type
A portrait of this kind is reminiscent of the work of one of Gainsborough's most admired artists of the past, Van Dyck, whose portraits of children also had a slightly melancholy sweetness.
Subjects Depicted
The artist painted his daughters several times. Both daughters attended Blacklands School in Chelsea, London, where they learned to draw; Margaret also became an accomplished amateur musician. Mary married the oboe player Johann Christian Fischer in 1780, but they soon separated, and she developed eccentricities which eventually resulted in insanity. After their father's death in 1788, the two sisters lived together.
People
Thomas Gainsborough was born in Sudbury, Suffolk, in 1727. He moved to London in 1740, studying at the St Martin's Lane Academy and associating with Hubert Gravelot and Francis Hayman. He returned to Suffolk in 1748; then moved to Bath in 1759 and established a successful portrait practice, although he regularly visited London. He exhibited at the Society of Artists and was invited to be a founder member of the Royal Academy in 1768. He also painted pictures in the sentimental manner of Murillo, and landscapes of a 'picturesque' kind.
A portrait of this kind is reminiscent of the work of one of Gainsborough's most admired artists of the past, Van Dyck, whose portraits of children also had a slightly melancholy sweetness.
Subjects Depicted
The artist painted his daughters several times. Both daughters attended Blacklands School in Chelsea, London, where they learned to draw; Margaret also became an accomplished amateur musician. Mary married the oboe player Johann Christian Fischer in 1780, but they soon separated, and she developed eccentricities which eventually resulted in insanity. After their father's death in 1788, the two sisters lived together.
People
Thomas Gainsborough was born in Sudbury, Suffolk, in 1727. He moved to London in 1740, studying at the St Martin's Lane Academy and associating with Hubert Gravelot and Francis Hayman. He returned to Suffolk in 1748; then moved to Bath in 1759 and established a successful portrait practice, although he regularly visited London. He exhibited at the Society of Artists and was invited to be a founder member of the Royal Academy in 1768. He also painted pictures in the sentimental manner of Murillo, and landscapes of a 'picturesque' kind.
Object details
| Categories | |
| Object type | |
| Parts | This object consists of 2 parts.
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| Title | The Painter's Two Daughters (generic title) |
| Materials and techniques | oil on canvas (two canvases joined) |
| Brief description | Portrait of Mary and Margaret Gainsborough, the artist's two daughters |
| Physical description | Since this painting was probably executed in 1758, Gainsborough's daughters would have been about ten and six years old. It appears that the girl on the spectator's left is the elder and she is therefore taken to be Mary (born ca. 1748) and the girl on the spectator's right is Margaret (born ca. 1752). As in all the other double portraits the girls are shown in close sisterly contact with each other; here they are linked by Mary's arm stretching up to rest on Margaret's hair (the girls' hair would have been cut in this short style to fit neatly under mob caps). Margaret turns to face us with an almost haughty expression. |
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| Credit line | Bequeathed by John Forster |
| Object history | Bequeathed by John Forster, 1876 Painted by Thomas Gainsborough (born in Sudbury, Suffolk, 1727, died in London, 1788) |
| Subjects depicted | |
| Summary | Object Type A portrait of this kind is reminiscent of the work of one of Gainsborough's most admired artists of the past, Van Dyck, whose portraits of children also had a slightly melancholy sweetness. Subjects Depicted The artist painted his daughters several times. Both daughters attended Blacklands School in Chelsea, London, where they learned to draw; Margaret also became an accomplished amateur musician. Mary married the oboe player Johann Christian Fischer in 1780, but they soon separated, and she developed eccentricities which eventually resulted in insanity. After their father's death in 1788, the two sisters lived together. People Thomas Gainsborough was born in Sudbury, Suffolk, in 1727. He moved to London in 1740, studying at the St Martin's Lane Academy and associating with Hubert Gravelot and Francis Hayman. He returned to Suffolk in 1748; then moved to Bath in 1759 and established a successful portrait practice, although he regularly visited London. He exhibited at the Society of Artists and was invited to be a founder member of the Royal Academy in 1768. He also painted pictures in the sentimental manner of Murillo, and landscapes of a 'picturesque' kind. |
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| Collection | |
| Accession number | F.9 |
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| Record created | December 15, 1999 |
| Record URL |
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