THOMAS GAINSBOROUGH (1727-1788)

William Wollaston (1758)

Oil on canvas (121 x 98 cm)

Christchurch Mansion, Ipswich, UK

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According to Nicola Kalinsky: “This portrait must have been one of the last Gainsborough undertook in Suffolk before he moved from Ipswich. Wollaston (1730-1797). a local landowner and, from 1768, MP for Ipswich, was an amateur flautist and a common love of music suggests that, at the very least, Gainsborough find this man a sympathetic sitter. The artist had also painted a life-size, full-length portrait of Wollaston, his first such a commission. Taking them together the Wollaston portraits mark the growing confidence of Gainsborough, the earlier stiffness is replaced by ease and the groundwork is prepared for the great full-lengths of the Bath years.” (“Gainsborough” Phaidon, 1995, p. 52)

William Wollaston’s full-length portrait is on display at the Holbourne Museum in Bath. It shows Gainsborough’s growing confidence and skill. The textures of the trees, Wollaston’s clothes and the fur of his beautiful dog have been faithfully reproduced. In the background, we can see the family’s estate, Finborough Hall, near Stowmarket. In 1794, William Wollaston was forced to sell it to pay off a gambling debt.

Going back to the splendid portrait in Christchurch Mansion, I would say that it shows that by 1759 Gainsborough’s art had reached a level of skill and sophistication worthy of a great master. What we see here is the work of a genius at his peak; further proof of this is the magnificent portrait of Ann Ford (Cincinnati Art Museum, Cincinnati, USA) painted in 1760.

https://www.cincinnatiartmuseum.org/art/explore-the-collection?id=20842622

Here, Gainsborough has captured his friend’s pensive mood with the immediacy of a snapshot. Like most of his sitters, William Wollaston lives forever within the confines of a picture frame. Such is the feeling that only the finest portraits can arouse.