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Thomas Gainsborough
(1727-1788)
The Harvest Wagon
Bath, exhibited 1767
Oil on canvas
A group of rustic figures travel in a harvest wagon at the end of the working day. The figures are unusually prominent for Gainsborough’s landscapes and are the result of careful study. Two of the women are based on the artist’s daughters whilst the landscape is inspired by the beautiful countryside around Bath where Gainsborough lived.
Unlike his commissioned portraits, Gainsborough painted such landscapes for his own pleasure or as a speculation. This picture was given to his patron and friend Walter Wiltshire when the artist moved to London in 1774, as thanks for the presentation of the grey horse shown here.
Purchased 1946 (No. 46.8)
A Portrait of Giusto Ferdinando Tenducci
Probably Bath, about 1773
Oil on canvas
Giusto Tenducci (1734-1790) was a celebrated Italian singer who moved to England from 1758. He was noted for his vanity and an extravagance which left him continually dodging his creditors. Here he is shown performing, perhaps in a domestic setting. A raised eyebrow suggests that he has hit the sort of high note associated with a castrato singer.
Gainsborough was a keen musician and he painted many portraits of musical friends as gifts or as show pieces. The painting is unfinished. The existence of another completed version in a private collection suggests that the artist perhaps abandoned this canvas and began again.
Purchased 1944 (No. 44.3)
A Portrait of the Honourable Harriot Marsham
London, the late 1770s
Oil on canvas
Harriot Marsham (1721-1796) was the unmarried daughter of the first Baron Romney. Gainsborough produced this commissioned portrait of her in her fifties, shortly after his move from Bath to London in 1774. It is painted on a standard size canvas of 30 by 25 inches for which he commonly charged 25 guineas. Typically, for such an intimate portrait, the half-length figure is framed in a fictive stone oval.
Gainsborough was at the height of his powers in the 1770s, famed for such small portraits, as well as more flamboyant full-length figures, and rustic landscapes.
Purchased 1946 (No. 46.9)