Portrait Bust of a Man
c. 1780
Medium
Black chalk, heightened with white chalk, on pink laid paper, tipped onto board
Dimensions
48.2 × 34.3 cm (19 × 13 9/16 in.)
Classification
chalk
Department
Prints and Drawings
Museum
Art Institute of Chicago
Accession Number
83356
Art Historical Context
Step into the refined world of late 18th-century British portraiture with Thomas Gains's *Portrait Bust of a Man (c. 1780). This intimate drawing captures the essence of a gentleman in a classical bust format, showcasing Gainsborough's mastery as one of England's leading Rococo artists. Renowned for his fluid oil portraits of aristocracy and landscapes, Gainsborough often turned to preparatory sketches like this to explore form and expression, bridging his studio practice with spontaneous creativity. Executed in black chalk heightened with white on pink laid paper—tipped onto board for preser...
About the Artist
Thomas Gainsborough · 1727–1788
Thomas Gainsborough was born on 14 May 1727 in Sudbury, Suffolk, the youngest of nine children to wool dealer John Gainsborough and his wife Mary. Demonstrating prodigious talent from childhood, he sketched landscapes in the local woods and fields, fostering his lifelong passion for the genre. At age thirteen, he moved to London, where he trained under the French engraver and illustrator Hubert-Fr...