The Blue Boy (Portrait of a Young Gentleman) by Thomas Gainsborough

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The Blue Boy (Portrait of a Young Gentleman) by Thomas Gainsborough
The Blue Boy (Portrait of a Young Gentleman) by Thomas Gainsborough

Thomas Gainsborough’s (1727–1788) iconic painting was first shown in public in the Royal Academy exhibition of 1770 as A Portrait of a Young Gentleman, where it received high acclaim, and by 1798 it was being called “The Blue Boy”—a nickname that stuck.

Henry and Arabella Huntington purchased The Blue Boy in 1921 for $728,000, at that time the highest price ever paid for a painting. By bringing a British treasure to the United States, the Huntingtons imbued an already well-known image with even greater notoriety on both sides of the Atlantic. But beyond its cultural significance, the painting is considered a masterpiece of artistic virtuosity. Gainsborough’s command of color and mastery of brushwork are on full display in the painting, made even more apparent as a result of the conservation and restoration of this priceless portrait.

Thomas Gainsborough was among the most prominent artists of his day. Though he preferred to paint landscapes, he made his career producing stylish portraits of the British gentry and aristocracy. Jonathan Buttall (1752–1805), the first owner of The Blue Boy, was once thought to have been the portrait’s sitter, but recent research has disproven this identification. The identity of the subject remains unconfirmed, though it has been suggested that the boy’s features are those of Gainsborough’s nephew and studio assistant, Gainsborough Dupont (1754–1797). The figure’s costume is significant. Instead of dressing his model in the elegant finery worn by most sitters at the time, or in the kind of quasi-classical robes often employed by his rival Joshua Reynolds, Gainsborough chose knee breeches and a slashed doublet with a lace collar–-a nod to the work of Anthony van Dyck, the 17th-century Flemish painter who had profoundly influenced British art.

The Huntington Art Gallery, San Marino, California

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Taken on: November 20, 2023
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Sets appears in:   • The Huntington Library, Art Museum and Botanical Gardens    • Paintings   
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