Thomas Gainsborough

The Blue Boy is one of Gainsborough's most famous portraits, painted around 1770. It shows a young sitter in blue Van Dyck-style costume and is now associated with The Huntington in California.

Gainsborough earned much of his living from portraits, especially of wealthy sitters in 18th-century Britain. He personally loved landscape painting, and many of his portraits place figures in lush outdoor settings.

Yes, Gainsborough was one of the founding members of the Royal Academy of Arts in 1768. He was part of the same British art world as Joshua Reynolds, his famous rival.

Reynolds often favored grand, classical portrait formulas, while Gainsborough is known for lighter brushwork and more atmospheric landscape feeling. Their rivalry helped define British portrait painting in the late 18th century.