Thomas Gainsborough is renowned for his paintings of British landscapes and society portraits, which ranged from head and shoulders to full length. Gainsborough was born in Sudbury in Suffolk in 1727 and died in London in 1788.
Gainsborough moved to London at the age of 13 to serve an apprenticeship under the French engraver Hubert Gravelot. He moved to Ipswich when he was 19, where he established himself as a portrait painter. From there, in 1759, he moved to the fashionable city of Bath. The best known among his early work is Mr and Mrs Andrews, now in the National Gallery in London.
In 1768 Gainsborough was elected a founder member of the Royal Academy of Arts, and in 1774 he moved to London. Gainsborough became a wealthy man because he was the favorite painter of the aristocracy, and because he was prolific. Ironically, he preferred painting landscapes to portraits, which he did primarily for the money.
