Painting returns to London after exactly 100 years

Thomas Gainsborough's »The Blue Boy« on view again at the National Gallery London

In 1922, Gainsborough's painting The Blue Boy was once again exhibited at the National Gallery London for three weeks before being transported to its new owner in California amid protests. From January 25, 2022, exactly 100 years later to the day, the National Gallery is now welcoming the painting back as part of an exhibition.

January 24, 2022

It was the highest price ever paid for a painting up to that time: for £182,200, the National Gallery London sold Thomas Gainsborough's (c. 1727-1788) painting The Blue Boy to a California railroad pioneer. The popular painting was exhibited again for three weeks before being shipped out amid protests in 1922. It has been revisited time and again in U.S. pop culture, from a photo shoot with Marlene Dietrich to Tarantino's film Django Unchained. Now The Blue Boy returns to London for an exhibition. It will be on view at the National Gallery from January 25 to May 15, 2022. The show, Gainsborough's Blue Boy, places the painting in context with works that inspired Gainsborough to create it.

The full-length portrait became popular in England primarily through the paintings of Anthonis van Dyck beginning in the late 17th century. Thomas Gainsborough saw van Dyck as his great role model and is known for his elegant portraits. He himself was one of the most important British painters of the 18th century and was a co-founder of the Royal Academy of Arts in London in 1768. The Blue Boy is unusual because of its central use of the cold color blue in a portrait: Gainsborough wanted to prove that blue could also be used harmoniously in the foreground of a painting. He was right, as evidenced by the enduring popularity of the 250-year-old work to this day. The exhibition in London is eagerly awaited, because the return of The Blue Boy is the first loan of the painting since 1922 – and probably the last, as experts suspect.Art.Salon

Recent auction results of Thomas Gainsborough

Thomas Gainsborough, R.A. - Wooded landscape with horsemen crossing a bridge
Auction
Old Master & British Drawings
February 2024
Christies, New York
Est.: 10.000 - 15.000 USD
Realised: 9.450 USD
Details
Thomas Gainsborough, R.A. - A wooded landscape with drovers and horses
Auction
Old Master and British Drawings and Watercolours
July 2023
Christies, London
Est.: 10.000 - 15.000 GBP
Realised: 15.120 GBP
Details
Thomas Gainsborough, R.A. - Wooded landscape with herdsmen and cattle on a track
Auction
Old Master and British Drawings and Watercolours
July 2023
Christies, London
Est.: 40.000 - 60.000 GBP
Realised: not available
Details
Thomas Gainsborough, R.A. - A young man reclining on a bank beneath a tree, possibly a self-portrait
Auction
Old Master and British Drawings and Watercolours
July 2023
Christies, London
Est.: 150.000 - 250.000 GBP
Realised: 176.400 GBP
Details
Thomas Gainsborough, R.A. - Portrait of William Petty, 2nd Earl of Shelburne and 1st Marquess of Lansdowne
Auction
CollectionsIncluding The Peta Smyth Collection of Antique Textiles & Tapestries, Selected Items From The Collection of Lord & Lady Flight, and The Contents of Chequers' Attics
March 2023
Bonhams
Est.: 15.000 - 20.000 GBP
Realised: 17.850 GBP
Details
Thomas Gainsborough, R.A. - Landscape with a peasant family resting
Auction
Old Master & British Drawings
January 2023
Christies, New York
Est.: 10.000 - 15.000 USD
Realised: 10.080 USD
Details
Thomas Gainsborough, R.A. - A wooded landscape with drovers and horses
Auction
Old Master & British Drawings
January 2023
Christies, New York
Est.: 18.000 - 25.000 USD
Realised: not available
Details

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