Gainsborough Dupont
Thomas Gainsborough (1727–88)
Gainsborough Dupont, ca. 1770–72
Oil on canvas
17 15/16 x 14 3/4 in. (45.5 x 37.5 cm)
Tate, London; Bequeathed by Lady d'Abernon, 1954
Image Tate
Gainsborough did not employ a team of assistants like some of his fellow artists. To achieve the signature style of his paintings, he had the help of a single long-term assistant, Gainsborough Dupont (1754–1797), the son of his sister. Gainsborough portrayed his nephew as many as eight times, perhaps inspired by his attractive features or simply because he was a convenient model. Dupont collaborated with his uncle for about two decades as model, assistant, and studio aide. He cultivated a style of painting close to Gainsborough's and, after his uncle's death, achieved limited renown. The unusual size of this canvas and its sketchiness suggest its experimental nature. The turn of the head, sidelong gaze, falling lace collar, and long, full hair reflect Gainsborough's study of Van Dyck and echoes especially the figure of Lord Bernard Stuart in his copy after Van Dyck's portrait. This close connection to Van Dyck's prototype—while showcasing Gainsborough's distinctive paint handling—suggests a date in the early 1770s. An anecdote describes Gainsborough placing a "last head" on his easel at the time of his death. It is thought to have been this painting.
Transcript
Speaker: Aimee Ng
Gainsborough did not employ a team of assistants like other artists. His only long-term assistant was his nephew, Gainsborough Dupont, shown here in a sketchy canvas with shaggy hair and a lace collar clearly inspired by Van Dyck portraits, like the one Gainsborough copied of the Stuart Brothers, shown nearby. Gainsborough painted his nephew probably about eight times, perhaps inspired by his evidently attractive features, or maybe simply because he was a convenient model. The unusual size of the canvas and its sketchiness suggest an experimental nature, and it remained in the artist’s possession until the end of his life. In fact, an anecdote recounts that Gainsborough had placed this painting on his easel at the time of his death.
Gainsborough thought about his own legacy and image. In the weeks before he passed at age 61, he wrote a note to his survivors forbidding anyone to take a likeness of him after his death, allowing one exception: He permitted his late self-portrait—displayed nearby—which he had meant to give his friend Carl Friedrich Abel, to be engraved as a print by one particular engraver. It is unclear why he selected this from among his various self-portraits. Perhaps it was because it had been meant for his dear friend; perhaps, both in its likeness and in its characteristic, loose brushwork, it was both a portrait of the man and of his signature style.