Thomas Gainsborough

In 1740, he moved to London to train under engraver Hubert Gravelot and became associated with William Hogarth, who influenced his early style.¹

Moving to Bath in 1759, he studied portraits by Van Dyck, developing a sophisticated style that attracted a fashionable clientele.¹

He was a founding member of the Royal Academy in 1768, often competing with his rival Joshua Reynolds, who held a contrasting artistic philosophy.¹

From the 1770s, he experimented with then-novel printmaking techniques, including aquatint and soft-ground etching.¹

In his later years, he developed a portrait style integrating sitters into landscapes using fluid brushstrokes and silvery tones to harmonize figure and nature.¹

In 1780, he painted King George III and Queen Charlotte, becoming the royal family's favorite painter despite his rivalry with Joshua Reynolds.¹

In the 1780s, he used a self-designed 'Showbox' to display landscape transparencies on glass, lit from behind to experiment with light effects.¹

He died in 1788. His reported last words were 'Van Dyck,' referring to the master whose elegant style he had admired and emulated throughout his life.¹