Where can you see Thomas Gainsborough in London?

At the National Gallery: Mr and Mrs Andrews, The Painter's Daughters chasing a Butterfly and The Morning Walk. Museums move and lend their works, so check before a special journey.

What is Thomas Gainsborough's most famous work in London?

Mr and Mrs Andrews, of about 1750, at the National Gallery. A young couple newly married, he with a gun and a dog, she on a bench in blue satin, with their cornfields stretching away to the right. The patch on her lap was never painted in.

When and where was Thomas Gainsborough born?

Baptised 14 May 1727, at Sudbury, Suffolk. Thomas Gainsborough died on 2 August 1788, at London, aged about 61.

What is Thomas Gainsborough known for?

Painted Mr and Mrs Andrews at about twenty-three. A founding member of the Royal Academy. The great rival of Reynolds. Thomas Gainsborough was an English painter, of Rococo, British portraiture.

Painter, 1727 to 1788

Thomas Gainsborough

Gainsborough painted portraits for money and landscapes for love, and said so. His best portraits are the ones where he managed both at once.

Born: 1727, Sudbury, Suffolk
Died: 1788, London
Movement: Rococo, British portraiture
In London: 3 works in 1 museum

Where to see Thomas Gainsborough in London

Each work with the museum it hangs in. Museums move and lend their works, so check before a special journey.

The National Gallery3 works

Mr and Mrs Andrews
about 1750
A young couple newly married, he with a gun and a dog, she on a bench in blue satin, with their cornfields stretching away to the right. The patch on her lap was never painted in.
The Painter's Daughters chasing a Butterfly
about 1756
His two girls, aged about six and five, hand in hand, the younger reaching for a white butterfly on a thistle. He painted it for himself and did not finish it.
The Morning Walk
1785
A couple of twenty-one, about to be married, stroll through a wood with a white dog. The silk, the leaves and the dog's fur are all brushed in the same feathery way.

The life of Thomas Gainsborough

He was born in Suffolk, the son of a cloth merchant, and made his name in Bath painting the fashionable in silks. In 1774 he moved to London, to a house in Pall Mall, and became the favourite painter of George III and the rival of Sir Joshua Reynolds.

He painted fast, with brushes on long sticks so that he stood as far from the canvas as from the sitter, and he finished the dresses himself, which most portrait painters left to assistants.

What to know

Painted Mr and Mrs Andrews at about twenty-three
A founding member of the Royal Academy
The great rival of Reynolds

Born: Baptised 14 May 1727, Sudbury, Suffolk
Died: 2 August 1788, London

Thomas Gainsborough: common questions

Where can you see Thomas Gainsborough in London?: At the National Gallery: Mr and Mrs Andrews, The Painter's Daughters chasing a Butterfly and The Morning Walk. Museums move and lend their works, so check before a special journey.
What is Thomas Gainsborough's most famous work in London?: Mr and Mrs Andrews, of about 1750, at the National Gallery. A young couple newly married, he with a gun and a dog, she on a bench in blue satin, with their cornfields stretching away to the right. The patch on her lap was never painted in.
When and where was Thomas Gainsborough born?: Baptised 14 May 1727, at Sudbury, Suffolk. Thomas Gainsborough died on 2 August 1788, at London, aged about 61.
What is Thomas Gainsborough known for?: Painted Mr and Mrs Andrews at about twenty-three. A founding member of the Royal Academy. The great rival of Reynolds. Thomas Gainsborough was an English painter, of Rococo, British portraiture.