Digital Editions
Newsletters
Subscribe
Digital Editions
Newsletters
Art market
Museums & heritage
Exhibitions
Books
Podcasts
Columns
Technology
Adventures with Van Gogh
Art market
Museums & heritage
Exhibitions
Books
Podcasts
Columns
Technology
Adventures with Van Gogh
Thomas Gainsborough
archive

Sweeping Gainsborough exhibition on at Tate Britain

The Tate has pulled out all stops for this exhaustive show

Martin Bailey
30 September 2002
Share

The Tate’s Gainsborough show (24 October-19 Janury 2003) promises to be the most comprehensive ever held on the artist. Loans are coming from far and wide, including Washington, Los Angeles and Melbourne, as well as many from private collections (below, William Wollaston 1758-59, on loan from Ipswich Museum.)

The curators have set out to present Gainsborough as more than a charming and engaging artist, but one who was vitally engaged with the society of his time.

From around 1760, art exhibitions become increasingly important in the British art scene, and Gainsborough took full advantage of the new opportunities to spread his reputation. This will be reflected in the Tate’s presentation of a spectacular series of full-length portraits and grand landscapes in one long gallery, recreating the impact they must have had on 18th-century art lovers. The exhibition is accompanied by a detailed catalogue by Gainsborough specialist Michael Rosenthal and Tate curator Martin Myrone. A symposium, “Gainsborough and the birth of Modernity”, will be held on 6 December. Early next year there is to be a parallel, but more modest, exhibition at Agnew’s, with loans from the Gainsborough House Museum in his home town of Sudbury (22 January-21 February 2003).

Originally appeared in The Art Newspaper as 'What's on: Gainsborough'

Thomas GainsboroughExhibitionsLoansTate Britain18th century
Share
Subscribe to The Art Newspaper’s digital newsletter for your daily digest of essential news, views and analysis from the international art world delivered directly to your inbox.
Newsletter sign-up
Information
About
Contact
Cookie policy
Data protection
Privacy policy
Frequently Asked Questions
Subscription T&Cs
Terms and conditions
Advertise
Sister Papers
Sponsorship policy
Follow us
Instagram
Bluesky
LinkedIn
Facebook
TikTok
YouTube
© The Art Newspaper

Related content

Nicholas Serotaarchive
1 January 2003

In defence of Tate: Gainsborough acquisitions

Tate Director Nicholas Serota comments on recent criticism

The Art Newspaper
Exhibitionsarchive
1 February 2017

Tate Britain banks on David Hockney retrospective to pull in the crowds

More than 150 works will be on display, from those executed early in his career to some whose paint is still wet

José da Silva
Collectorsarchive
1 December 2010

Highlights of David John Lewis's collection to go on show next February in Liverpool

The more than 400 hundred works are described as “one of the largest collections of old masters amassed since the second world war”.

Martin Bailey