Thomas Gainsborough and The Painter's Daughters Chasing a Butterfly

'The Painter's Daughters Chasing a Butterfly' (c.1756) by Thomas Gainsborough; The National Gallery, London

I don't think I've posted a painting with a depiction of children yet (or maybe only as part of a family) but a long time ago I had a postcard of this painting by English artist Thomas Gainsborough, who was baptised on 14 May 1727, and it makes me feel nostalgic. I think this portrait is quite sweet and tender. It shows the artist's two daughters Mary, aged six, and Margaret, aged four or five. This is probably the earliest portrait Gainsborough had made of them. I love the silky dresses, the innocent faces and the sweet holding of hands. Gainsborough is known as a portrait and landscape painter. His art shows influences of the French painter Antoine Watteau, painters of the Dutch school and the Flemish painter Anthony van Dyck. He was the favourite painter of the British aristocracy, gaining wealth by doing numerous commissions for portraits. He was extremely productive, having done more than 500 paintings, of which more than 200 were portraits. Although he was highly succesful with his portraits, he preferred doing landscapes. For further reading on today's painting, click here.