Why did Thomas Gainsborough paint his family so often? | 'The Painter's Daughters with a Cat'

#ArtHistory #Hashtag #NationalGallery
When you look at Thomas Gainsborough’s ‘The Painter’s Daughters with a Cat’, you know you are looking at real human beings. But why is that?

Gainsborough prized himself for creating lifelike artworks. This loving portrait captures the features of Mary and Margaret Gainsborough with the intimacy and familiarity only a father could paint.

'The Painter’s Daughters’ was created by Gainsborough in about 1760-1 at a pivotal moment in his career. Focusing on his daughters' faces, Gainsborough sought to hone his craft and prove that he could capture individual features, with a goal to becoming a pre-eminent society portrait painter.

Join Director of Collections and Research, Christine Riding, as she explores this artwork in all its touching details, and its place amongst a series of portraits of Gainsborough's friends and family in the National Gallery. Hung as part of our new display, ‘C C Land: The Wonder of Art’, they tell a story of Gainsborough’s early career and the inspiration he drew from artists like Anthony van Dyck and Peter Paul Rubens.

Find out more about 'The Painter's Daughters with a Cat: https://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/pa...

Find out more about Thomas Gainsborough: https://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/ar...

Find out more about ‘C C Land: The Wonder of Art’
https://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/wh...