Thomas Gainsborough was the 18th century's most versatile painter, but he hated painting portraits.

Art · Published 3 October 2026 Swipe more like this →

In short: Though celebrated for his opulent portraits of high society, Thomas Gainsborough considered landscape painting his true calling. He famously lamented the demands of his wealthy sitters, wishing he could abandon the portrait business entirely to spend his final years painting idyllic country scenes in quiet, artistic seclusion.

Born in 1727 in Sudbury, Suffolk, Gainsborough was a prodigy who persuaded his father to send him to London at age 13. There, he absorbed the French Rococo style from Hubert Gravelot, a foundation that would later influence his fluid brushwork. Despite his early success in Suffolk, where he painted intimate portraits and conversation pieces, he felt the economic pressure to prioritize portraiture over his preferred landscape work.

His move to Bath in 1759 marked a turning point, as he became a favorite of the fashionable elite. Yet, even as he gained fame and was elected a founding member of the Royal Academy in 1768, he remained deeply conflicted. He found his patrons pretentious and often expressed frustration that their demands prevented him from pursuing his artistic passions. He famously wrote of his desire to leave behind the world of portraits to focus on his landscapes and his beloved viol da gamba.

Gainsborough’s style evolved significantly throughout his career. While his early work was influenced by Dutch masters like Jan Wynants and Jacob van Ruisdael, his later period was defined by the elegant, formal influence of Anthony Van Dyck. By the 1770s, he began integrating his sitters into atmospheric landscapes, creating a unique synthesis of the real and the ideal. Whether painting the nobility or rustic country children, his work remained characterized by a light, spontaneous touch that set him apart from his contemporaries.

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