Lives of Gainsborough

Lives of Gainsborough

Paperback

Authors: William Jackson, Philip Thicknesse and Sir Joshua Reynolds

Publisher: Pallas Athene

Dimensions: 115mm x 145mm

Pages: 114, with 51 pages of colour illustrations

ISBN: 978-1-84368-166-3

About

One of the best loved painters in English history, Thomas Gainsborough (1727-1788) was also one of the most personally engaging. Bon vivant, wit, amateur and enthusiastic musician, he charmed sitters and friends alike. His ebullient, if not always reliable, personality comes to life in these two memoirs, written by two very different friends.

Philip Thicknesse, one of the most eccentric figures of the eighteenth century was a close friend and shrewd observer of the painter whom he claimed to have discovered. William Jackson, a distinguished musician and connoisseur, also claimed to have been the first to see Gainsborough's talent, but after falling out with the painter over his reckless lifestyle, wrote an affectionate but clear eyed memoir.