Landscape with Cattle by a Cottage

1759–1774

Bath: Van Dyck and Rubens in the houses of the local aristocracy

Of great importance to Gainsborough is his acquaintance with paintings by Anthony van Dyck and Peter Paul Rubens owned by local aristocrats; he copies some of them. The study of the old masters is linked to the appearance in his landscapes of luminous distances that he had not been able to achieve before.

1760s

“Sick of portraits”

In a letter to a friend Gainsborough confesses that he is sick of portraits and longs to take his viola da gamba and walk off to some quiet village to paint landscapes. He has little regard for his gentleman patrons, whose only part worth looking at, he says, is their purse; by now he owns five viols — three by Henry Jaye and two by Barak Norman.

1768

An invitation to found the Royal Academy

In November 1768 Joshua Reynolds sends Gainsborough an invitation to become one of the thirty-six founding members of the Royal Academy of Arts; the Academy is founded on 10 December 1768.

1774

The move to London: Schomberg House

In 1774 Gainsborough and his family move to London, to live in Schomberg House on Pall Mall.

1774–1788

The rivalry with Reynolds

In London Gainsborough sets up his studio next to Christie's auction rooms, which he often visits. His London years are marked by rivalry with Joshua Reynolds, president of the Royal Academy.

1777

Back at the Academy exhibition: “The Watering Place”

In 1777, after a long break, Gainsborough again takes part in the Academy's exhibition, showing “The Watering Place” — his answer to Rubens's “Watering Place”. In the following years he keeps painting landscapes, and even two seascapes appear, one with a calm and one with a stormy sea.