This exhibition focusses on the early life and art of Thomas Gainsborough (1727-88). It explores how Gainsborough made his first steps in the art world from the inspiration of the landscape surrounding his hometown of Sudbury, through his training in London in the 1740s, to his return to Suffolk around 1748. This is a particularly important exhibition for Gainsborough’s House because it deals with Gainsborough’s time in Sudbury, his family and reveals for the first time new research on this significant period of the burgeoning artist.
This exhibition will show paintings from Gainsborough’s House collection, new acquisitions and loans that give new insight into Gainsborough’s early life and development as an artist. It will draw on a significant collection of the paintings, prints and ephemera on Gainsborough from the 1740s.
Thomas Gainsborough (1727-88) was born in Sudbury and baptised at the Independent Meeting-House in Friars Street on 14 May 1727, the fifth son and ninth child of John and Mary Gainsborough. In 1958, Gainsborough’s House Society was formed to purchase the house and establish it as a centre for Thomas Gainsborough. The Museum opened to the public in 1961 and has remained open for over 50 years. The beautiful historic garden at the heart of Gainsborough’s House is maintained by a devoted body of volunteers, who garden exclusively with plants that were available in Gainsborough’s lifetime.
Gainsborough’s House Society , Charity No. 1170048 and Company Limited by Guarantee No. 10413978