BLUEBOY
by Gainsborough
1727-1788

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The painting of The Blue Boy is perhaps the most well known works by Gainsborough (GAINZ burro). It is thought that it is a picture of Jonathan Buttall, who was the son of a wealthy hardware merchant. It is painted with oil paints on a canvas and is quite large; 48 inches wide and 70 inches tall. He painted it over another painting that he had already started to paint.

Thomas Gainsborough, self-portrait 1759

Gainsborough was born in England and began drawing when he was very young. He started taking lessons at the age of 15. Sarah Siddons was a famous actress during the time that she lived. Gainsborough was one of the artists she commissioned to paint her portrait. It is said that he trouble getting her nose to look just right.

He liked to paint landscapes and portraits of people. He painted many pictures in his lifetime; more than 500 paintings. About 200 of these were paintings of people. He became wealthy because the rich people wanted him to paint pictures of their families.


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Picture of Blue Boy to print and color.

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Masterpieces, Advanced Level By Parent Child Press All the art reproductions in this volume are to be used with the handbook How to Use Child-Size Masterpieces for Art Appreciation (#59784). This handbook enables parents and/or teachers-who need not be art experts-to introduce fine paintings to children of all ages, beginnning with three-year-olds.

Thomas Gainsborough
biography from CGFA

Paintings by Gainsborough
at ABC Gallery

Paintings from the Huntington Art Gallery
includes The Blue Boy


Gainsborough Paintings
from CGFA


Blue Boy

The Artchive
(scroll down, to find Gainsborough)

Carmine's Introduction to Portraits

Art Show With the Masters
art lesson grades 7-8

Paintings by Gainsborough
at Wikipedia

Gainsborough Biography and Prints
(Spanish version)

Famous Artists in this Series

Index to Famous Paintings
Art Appreciation
Lessons for Kids

Bierstadt	Boughton	Bruegel	Cassatt	Cavallino	Cezanne	Cranach	Curry
Durer	Van Dyck	Van Eyck	De Flandes	Fragonard	Gainsborough	Gauguin	Van Gogh
Goya	Hicks	Holbein	Homer	de Hooch	Hopper	Huguet	Jakuchu
Leutze	Limbourg	Michelangelo	Millet	Monet	Moses	O'Keeffe	Raphael
Rembrandt	Remington	Renoir	Reynolds	Rivera	Rockwell	Rousseau	Rubens
Seurat	Titian	Valazquez	Vermeer	De Vinci	Whistler	Wyeth	Yani

Art Gallery Famous Paintings Volume 1

Art Gallery Famous Paintings Volume 2

Picture courtesy of The ArtChive Patron Program