Thomas GainsboroughBritish, 1727–1788A Sunlit Path through a Wood
Can I see it?
Not on view at present
Where is “A Sunlit Path through a Wood” now? Collection: Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago. Not on view at present. Checked September 29, 2026.
Chicago, United States
It belongs to the collection, but is not on display at present.
- Checked
- In this state since
- Source
- The museum
About the work
This work comes from the body of landscape sketches that Gainsborough made for his own pleasure, sitting by his wife in the evening. Although they were originally not meant to be sold, these fresh and vigorous drawings—hailed by a friend as “effusions of genius”— comprise more than three-quarters of the artist’s output as a draftsman and are now the most coveted of his works on paper.
Art Institute of ChicagoCC BY 4.0
Details
- Accession number
- 2010.524
In the catalog
Sources
- Art Institute of Chicago
- Image: Art Institute of Chicago — CC0
In the life of Thomas Gainsborough
The whole life1748
His father dies; back to Sudbury
Gainsborough's father, John, dies in 1748. With no new commissions coming in London, the painter returns to Sudbury, to the house of his childhood.
c. 1749
Landscapes do not pay: a turn to portraiture
Gainsborough has always thought of himself as a landscape painter, but landscapes bring no income: in the England of the day they count as a “low genre”. Around 1749 he unites portrait and landscape in one composition for the first time, in “Mr and Mrs Andrews”.
31 January 1750
Daughter born: Mary Gainsborough Fischer
1751
Daughter born: Margaret Gainsborough
1752
The move to Ipswich
In 1752 Gainsborough, his wife and their two daughters, Mary (“Molly”) and Margaret (“Peggy”), move to Ipswich. Portrait commissions increase, but his clients are mostly local merchants and squires, and he has to borrow against his wife's annuity of £200, which the Duke of Beaufort had settled on her.
c. 1752 – 1759
The Ipswich Music Club
In Ipswich Gainsborough becomes a member of the Music Club, where he meets fellow music lovers and professional musicians; later he will paint portraits of some of them, and a group portrait of the club's members.
