Gainsborough and His Place in English Art, 1899 original photogravures and lithographs

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Gainsborough and His Place in English Art

by Sir Walter Armstrong
London: William Heinemann; 1899
(limited to 250 copies, a reprint of the 1898 first edition from the year prior—which itself was limited to 1250 copies)

Original photogravures and some lithographic facsimiles, over 130 years old.

Sheet size: approximately 11 x 14 inches (approx. 28 x 35.5 cm).
Image size varies (noted below thumbnail image)

Please click on a thumbnail for an enlarged view. The sheet is too large to scan entirely, so only scannable portion is shown.

Thomas Gainsborough (1727–1788)

At age thirteen, Thomas Gainsborough arrived in London from the nearby countryside eager to become an artist. There he studied with a noted French artist and was influenced by seventeenth-century Dutch landscape painting. In his early years, Gainsborough primarily painted landscapes and worked as a restorer for art dealers. Although his true desire was to paint landscapes exclusively, portraits were in much greater demand in eighteenth-century England. As a portraitist, he was highly acclaimed and sought after by the English aristocracy for his elegant and flattering portrayals. He developed his painting style by studying the portraits by Anthony Van Dyck. In his late forties, Gainsborough settled permanently in London and became a founding member of the Royal Academy. After his death in 1788, Sir Joshua Reynolds, his contemporary and fierce rival, eulogized him thus: "If ever a nation should produce genius sufficient to acquire to us the honorable distinction of an English school, the name of Gainsborough will be transmitted to posterity, in the history of Art, among the very first of that rising name."

Thomas Gainsborough
(self portrait)

Photogravure

Approximate image size: 7.125 x 8.5 inches

$79.95

General Honywood

Photogravure

Approximate image size: 7 x 7.375 inches

$79.95

[portrait of a man]

Photogravure
[Ref. I]

Approximate image size: 7 x 8 inches

$79.95

Admiral Hawkins

Photogravure

Approximate image size: 6.875 x 8.875 inches

$79.95

[portrait of a man]

Photogravure
[Ref. J]

Approximate image size: 6.5 x 8.125 inches

$79.95

Thomas Gainsborough
(self portrait)

Photogravure
[Ref. K]

Approximate image size: 7 x 9.25 inches

$79.95

David Garrick

Photogravure

Approximate image size: 7 x 8.5 inches

$79.95

Gainsborough Dupont

Photogravure

Approximate image size: 7 x 8.5 inches

$79.95

[Sketch for a landscape, 1780]

Color lithograph
[Ref. L]

Approximate image size: 8.5 x 6.75 inches

$79.95
NOTE: there is a stabilized tear at the top edge which extends to just outside of the image area.

[Sketch for a landscape, 1765]

Lithograph
[Ref. M]

Approximate image size: 8.5 x 6.875 inches

$79.95

[Sketch for a landscape, 1770]

Lithograph
[Ref. N]

Approximate image size: 7.75 x 6 inches

$79.95
NOTE: there is a stabilized tear at the top edge which extends to about one-half inch outside of the image area.

[Sketch for a landscape, 1768]

Lithograph
[Ref. O]

Approximate image size: 9.5 x 7 inches

$79.95

Study for a portrait
(Duchess of Devonshire?, 1780)

Lithograph
[Ref. P]

Approximate image size: 6.25 x 10 inches

$79.95
NOTE: there is a stabilized tear at the right edge which extends to about one-half inch outside of the image area

Study for a portrait
(Duchess of Devonshire?, 1780)

Lithograph
[Ref. Q]

Approximate image size: 6.25 x 10 inches

$79.95
NOTE: there is a stabilized tear at the left edge which extends to about one-half inch outside of the image area

Study for a portrait
(Lady Clarges)

Lithograph
[Ref. S]

Approximate image size: 6.875 x 8.375 inches

$79.95
NOTE: there is a stabilized tear at the left edge which extends to about one-half inch outside of the image area

Study for a portrait
(Lady Clarges)

Lithograph
[Ref. T]

Approximate image size: 6.875 x 9.375 inches

$79.95

[Study for a portrait]

Lithograph
[Ref. R]

Approximate image size: 7 x 9.75 inches

$79.95

[facsimilie of Gainsborough letter to the Royal Academy]

Lithograph

Approximate sheet size: 8.75 x 11 inches
Approximate image size: 7 x 6.75 inches

Letter reads:

Mr. Gainsborough presents his Compliments to the Gentlemen appointed to hang the Pictures at teh Royal Academy; and begs leave to hint to them, that if the Royal Family, which he has sent for this Exhibition (being smaller than these quarters) are hung above the line along with full lengths, he never more, whilst he breaths, will send another Picture to the Exhibition.

This he swears by God

Saturday Morn {?}

$79.95

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