Thomas Gainsborough, English, 1727-1788
Title: A View in Suffolk
Date: c.1746
Medium: Oil on canvas
Dimensions:
47 x 61 cm
Credit Line: Purchased, 1883
Object Number: NGI.191
DescriptionThe curving track, chalk pits, pool and windswept trees under a great expanse of sky powerfully evoke Gainsborough’s native Suffolk, on the exposed east coast of England. These features of the terrain are also found in the work of Dutch seventeenth-century masters, whom Gainsborough was studying as a young artist, and whose vision of the naturalistic landscape he shared. The view is partly imaginary, composed of a series of patterns. Gainsborough takes the eye through a sweep of foreground detail, echoed in the cascade of clouds. The silvery-grey colouring over a light ground has echoes of Wijnants, who would also often include in his compositions a jutting tree or a man with a pole. The rendering of space, the clarity of light and the clearly delineated foliage are all Gainsborough’s own, however. Some small details including a horse, a barking dog and a distant church tower give the sense of a human presence. When he painted this work, Gainsborough was training under Hubert Gravelot and Francis Hayman at the St Martin’s Lane Academy, London. At the same time he was engaged in restoring and copying works by Wijnants, Van Ruisdael, Hobbema and others.
March 2016
March 2016
ProvenanceJ.H. Reynolds; by descent to F.W. Reynolds; purchased Christie's, London, 10 April 1883, Reynolds Sale, lot 109
Exhibition HistoryThomas Gainsborough Bicentenary Exhibition, National Gallery of Ireland, Dublin, 1927
British Art, City Art Gallery, Manchester, April - May 1934
British Art, c.1000-1860, Royal Academy of Arts, London, 1934
Two Centuries of English Art, Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam, July - October 1936
La Peinture Anglaise: XVIIIe & XIXe Siècles, Louvre, Paris, 1938
English Masters from the National Gallery of Ireland, Dublin, Belfast Museum and Art Gallery, May - August 1960
Landscapes by Thomas Gainsborough, Nottingham University, Nottingham, 1962
Centenary Exhibition, National Gallery of Ireland, Dublin, October - December 1964
The Origins of Landscape Painting in England, Iveagh Bequest, Kenwood, summer 1967
La Peinture Britannique de Gainsborough á Bacon, Musée des Beaux-Arts, Bordeaux, 1977
Shades of Grey: Painting without Colour, National Gallery of Ireland, Dublin, 22 June - 29 September 2013
Thomas Gainsborough, Tate Gallery, London, 8 October 1980 - 4 January 1981
Gainsborough, Grand Palais, Paris, 6 February - 27 April 1981
Master European Paintings from the National Gallery of Ireland, The Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, 6 June - 9 August 1992; Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco, San Francisco, 19 September - 6 December 1992; Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, 13 January - 28 March 1993; IBM Gallery, New York, 27 April - 26 June 1993
Thomas Gainsborough, Palazzo dei Diamanti, Ferrara, 7 June - 30 August 1998
Shades of Grey: Painting without Colour, National Gallery of Ireland, Dublin, 22 June - 29 September 2013
The Young Gainsborough: Rediscovered Landscape Drawings, York Museum Trust UK, 01 October 2021 - 13 February 2022
British Art, City Art Gallery, Manchester, April - May 1934
British Art, c.1000-1860, Royal Academy of Arts, London, 1934
Two Centuries of English Art, Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam, July - October 1936
La Peinture Anglaise: XVIIIe & XIXe Siècles, Louvre, Paris, 1938
English Masters from the National Gallery of Ireland, Dublin, Belfast Museum and Art Gallery, May - August 1960
Landscapes by Thomas Gainsborough, Nottingham University, Nottingham, 1962
Centenary Exhibition, National Gallery of Ireland, Dublin, October - December 1964
The Origins of Landscape Painting in England, Iveagh Bequest, Kenwood, summer 1967
La Peinture Britannique de Gainsborough á Bacon, Musée des Beaux-Arts, Bordeaux, 1977
Shades of Grey: Painting without Colour, National Gallery of Ireland, Dublin, 22 June - 29 September 2013
Thomas Gainsborough, Tate Gallery, London, 8 October 1980 - 4 January 1981
Gainsborough, Grand Palais, Paris, 6 February - 27 April 1981
Master European Paintings from the National Gallery of Ireland, The Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, 6 June - 9 August 1992; Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco, San Francisco, 19 September - 6 December 1992; Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, 13 January - 28 March 1993; IBM Gallery, New York, 27 April - 26 June 1993
Thomas Gainsborough, Palazzo dei Diamanti, Ferrara, 7 June - 30 August 1998
Shades of Grey: Painting without Colour, National Gallery of Ireland, Dublin, 22 June - 29 September 2013
The Young Gainsborough: Rediscovered Landscape Drawings, York Museum Trust UK, 01 October 2021 - 13 February 2022
Label TextDuring his early career, Gainsborough frequently painted views of his native Suffolk. In this painting he conveyed not only his intimate knowledge of the countryside of his home county, but also his interest in the work of seventeenth-century Dutch landscape painters. At this time, Gainsborough worked as a restorer and copyist of works by, among others, Jacob van Ruisdael and Meindert Hobbema. Here, the expansive grey sky, the windswept trees, and the curving track reveal the impact of these Dutch masters.