Portrait of a Lady in Blue

The vocation of Gainsborough, who spent most of his life outside the British capital, was landscape painting. In the studio he compiled real-life impressions, garnered during frequent strolls, into decorative compositions that recall the painted fantasies of French Rococo artist Antoine Watteau. Gainsborogh became famous for his portraits, however, which were prized especially for the exquisite consonance of their colours. This painting, whose subject is unknown, displays the artist’s characteristic harmonious blend of hues, here white and blue.