Gainsborough and Van Dyke: the return of Blue Boy

Gainsborough, Van Dyck and the Old Masters; the story of British Art

Throughout his career, Thomas Gainsborough was interested in the work of his predecessors - most notably Van Dyck, who returned to King Charles I's court in 1632.

His paintings of the king and his family, friends and courtiers transformed artistic expectations. In particular, Van Dyck popularised the 'grand manner' of full-length portraiture in Britain, and by the 18th century, he epitomised the height of artistic achievement: a celebrity' painter honoured by the royal family and known for his extraordinary ability.

He was also popular among Gainsborough's patrons, who often donned 'Van Dyck' costume to pose for portraits.

Gainsborough aspired to such a reputation and sought to understand his painterly technique, making several copies after the earlier artist's work. By referencing Van Dyck, Gainsborough deliberately established himself in this great lineage of European artists.

The National Gallery's collection includes a rich survey of grand manner painting that traces the tradition from the Renaissance through Van Dyck to Gainsborough and beyond.

This lineage illuminates Gainsborough's adoption of ideas from the work of Titian, Rubens and Claude, as well as Jean-Antoine Watteau and Jacob van Ruisdael. Since its foundation in 1824, the National Gallery has been a home to artists who study the past to create art for the present. For instance, Sir Thomas Lawrence (1769-1830), its first artist trustee, was an artistic heir to Gainsborough and adopted his method of drawing on painting traditions to create thoroughly modern portraits. The momentous display of The Blue Boy reminds us of the connections between past and present, as well as the timeless humanity of Gainsborough's portraiture

Gainsborough's Blue Boy

Thomas Gainsborough's Blue Boy (1770) was one of the most famous works of art in the world when it was sold by the Duke of Westminster to the renowned art dealer Joseph Duveen in 1921. It was then bought by the Californian businessman Henry E. Huntington for $728,000 (£182,000) - at the time, the highest price ever paid for a painting.

This spectacular, enigmatic full-length portrait was created during Gainsborough's time in Bath (1759-74), a period when the artist's style and practice changed dramatically in response to his patrons' tastes and expectations. He did not travel abroad, but instead benefited from studying and copying works of past masters in prestigious collections, particularly those by the Flemish artist Sir Anthony van Dyck (1599-1641).

Gainsborough and his contemporaries - keen to elevate the status of the artist in Britain - admired Van Dyck for what he represented in the round: a painter, courtier, collector and connoisseur.

Van Dyck had consciously adapted his style of representation to suit the political and cultural agenda of his greatest patron, King Charles I (1600-1649), and his court.

Brushwork, pose, expression and colour were deftly and effortlessly combined to suggest attributes of power and control, an alluring formula that Gainsborough made his own in The Blue Boy. Yet when he first submitted the painting for exhibition at the Royal Academy in 1770, it seems to have attracted little public attention.

During the 19th century, however, Gainsborough and other British artists were promoted as equals to revered continental masters of the past through the art market, public exhibitions and museum acquisitions British art was increasingly appealing to wealthy American collectors and the growing celebrity of The Blue Boy made it the greatest prize of all. Before its departure to the United States on 25 January 1922, the painting was displayed for three weeks at the National Gallery and 90,000 visitors came to see it.

The National Gallery's Director at the time, Sir Charles Holmes, inscribed 'au revoir' in pencil on the reverse of the stretcher, perhaps hoping that the painting would return one day. This exhibition opens 100 years to the date since The Blue Boy was last seen in the country.

Thomas Gainsborough The Blue Boy 1770

Thomas Gainsborough

The Blue Boy

1770

In its virtuoso brushwork, costume and stance, The Blue Boy is Gainsborough's most eloquent response to the full-length 'grand manner' portraits that Van Dyck had made popular in Britain, a showpiece to stand out among the crowded displays at the Royal Academy.

With one hand on his hip, the boy mirrors the pose struck by the young George Villiers, whose portrait by Van Dyck hangs nearby. He is dressed in a blue satin 'Van Dyck' suit, a studio prop owned by Gainsborough. His shimmering costume stands out against the dark and mysterious landscape behind him.

While the nickname Blue Boy was established by the early 19th century, the identity of the sitter remains uncertain. It was long thought to be Jonathan Buttall, a former owner of the painting and the son of a London ironmonger. Recently, however, it has been suggested that it is Gainsborough's nephew and only apprentice, Gainsborough Dupont (1754-1797).

Van Dyke - Lord John Stuart and his Brother, Lord Bernard Stuart

Anthony van Dyck

Lord John Stuart and his Brother, Lord Bernard Stuart

about 1638

These dashing youths are Lord John (1621-1644) and Lord Bernard Stuart (1622-1645), the younger sons of the 3rd Duke of Lennox.

The portrait was painted before the brothers set off for a tour of the Continent. Both later lost their lives fighting for the Royalists in the English Civil War (1642-51).

In the 1760s, Gainsborough made a strikingly accurate copy of this painting, which remained in his collection until 1789. Reynolds once remarked that it would be easy to mistake Gainsborough's copies after Van Dyck for the real thing. Gainsborough was particularly interested in the painting's composition.

Clad in complementary satins of golden russet and silver blue, the brothers' contrasting postures convey their different characters.

One brother gazes meditatively into the distance from his higher vantage point. The other asserts himself with a direct stare, one heeled boot mounting his brother's step.

Anthony van Dyck - George Villiers, 2nd Duke of Buckingham (1628-1687), and Lord Francis Villiers (1629-1648) 1635

Anthony van Dyck - George Villiers, 2nd Duke of Buckingham (1628-1687), and Lord Francis Villiers (1629-1648)

1635

This double portrait was commissioned by King Charles I, who brought the Villiers boys up alongside his own children after the murder of their father, the Duke of Buckingham, in 1628. George, the eldest, stands slightly ahead of his younger brother Francis, who looks to George and shyly mimics his swaggering pose of hand on hip. George went on to become a notorious member of Charles Il's court, but Francis died fighting in the English Civil War, like John and Bernard Stuart. This painting was much admired by 18th-century artists, who knew it through copies and engravings after the original, which hung in Buckingham House (now Buckingham Palace) alongside Van Dyck's portrait of Charles I's three eldest children (1635-6).

It became an inspiration for paintings of children and young adults, including Gainsborough's Blue Bov which borrows George's self-assured stance

Gainsborough - Mrs Siddons

Thomas Gainsborough - Elizabeth and Mary Linley

Thomas Gainsborough

Elizabeth and Mary Linley

about 1772, retouched 1785

Elizabeth (1754-1792) and Mary Linley (1758-1787) were professional singers known as "the nightingales', who had short but stellar careers singing opera and oratorio in Bath and London. Their father, a concert master and music professor, was a close friend of Gainsborough, who was himself a talented musician.

Elizabeth eloped to France with the playwright Richard Brinsley Sheridan in 1772, before the portrait was completed. The painting's colouring and composition suggest Gainsborough's ongoing interest in Van Dyck's painting of the Stuart brothers.

The sisters' contrasting poses echo Van Dyck's portrait, as does the balance of gold and blue in their dresses. Gainsborough conveys their different characters in Elizabeth's wistful gaze and Mary's engaging half smile and glance towards the viewer.

In 1785, the year he painted Sarah Siddons, Gainsborough retouched the painting to update the girls' dress and hairstyles to the latest fashion, at the Linley family's request.

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