"Thomas Gainsborough, 1727-1788"
2003-02-09 until 2003-05-11
National Gallery of Art
Washington, DC, USA

Thomas Gainsborough, 1727-1788, the first comprehensive retrospective ever seen in the United States of works by one of the masters of 18th-century portraiture and landscape painting, will be on view at the National Gallery of Art, West Building, February 9 through May 11, 2003. Sixty-three paintings and 31 drawings, including such favorites as Mrs. Richard Brinsley Sheridan (c. 1785-1787) and works rarely seen outside of England such as Mr. and Mrs. William Hallet (The Morning Walk) (1785), will illustrate the range, richness, and originality of this great British artist. The last major Gainsborough exhibition was held at Tate Britain in 1980.

The exhibition was organized by Tate Britain--where it has been on view since October 24, 2002, and will close on January 19, 2003--in association with the National Gallery of Art, Washington, and the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, where it will be on view June 15 through September 14, 2003. The National Gallery of Art exhibition, which is organized chronologically, includes fifteen works not seen at the Tate, and is the exclusive U.S. venue for the paintings The Watering Place (c. 1774-1777) and The Painter's Daughters with a Cat (c. 1760-1761).

"An artist with a truly international reputation, Gainsborough has long been admired for the sophistication and elegance of his art, and the inventiveness and complexity of his techniques," said Earl A. Powell III, director, National Gallery of Art. "Thanks to the generosity of General Dynamics and General Dynamics United Kingdom, Ltd., as well as to the many lenders on both sides of the Atlantic, visitors to Washington will have the rare opportunity of experiencing the full breadth of Gainsborough's artistic genius."

Exhibition Sponsor

The exhibition is made possible by General Dynamics and General Dynamics United Kingdom, Ltd.

"Through our sponsorship of this exhibition with our British subsidiary, General Dynamics United Kingdom, Ltd., we celebrate our friendship with the government and the people of the United Kingdom," said Nicholas D. Chabraja, chairman and chief executive officer, General Dynamics. "We hope that visitors will take great pleasure from these beautiful works."

The exhibition is also supported by an indemnity from the Federal Council on the Arts and the Humanities.

IMAGE:
Thomas Gainsborough
Edward, Second Viscount Ligonier, 1770
oil on canvas, 238.8 x 157.5 cm (94 x 62)
The Huntington Library, Art Collections, and
Botanical Gardens, San Marino, California

Related Links:

Indepth Arts Resources for the State of District of Columbia

Other Important Exhibitions in Washington