The Blue Boy is no Royal
Gainsborough painted The Blue Boy, an oil on canvas, around 1770 and drew inspiration from the 17th century Flemish painter Van Dyck and his Portrait of Charles, Lord Strange. Paying careful attention to his subjects and the fine details of their features and expressions, Gainsborough also believed in using the surrounding backdrop to set the scene for their mood and character. At heart, Gainsborough was far more inclined to paint landscapes and once famously admitted that he only painted portraits for the income they brought him but landscapes were his real love.
Despite giving the Blue Boy a regal yet relaxed appearance, the young lad in the painting is not a member of the royal family. For years, art historians pondered over his identity, with the final verdict being that he was Jonathan Buttall, the son of a wealthy hardware merchant with whom Gainsborough had struck up a friendship.
The Inspiration for the Portrait
“First, the icons-'Blue Boy,’ ‘Pinkie,’ ‘Sarah Siddons’ and the Constable. That was clear cut. Advertisement “Second, we have extraordinarily rich holdings of Reynolds, Gainsborough. Pinkie Meets Blue Boy is a contemporary interpretation of the 18th century paintings by Thomas Gainsborough and Thomas Lawrence. The same person plays both characters, with the feminine Pinkie on the left, and masculine Blue Boy on the right.
There are several theories about the inspiration for The Blue Boy. Some believe that Gainsborough may have painted him out of spite for his hated rival, the portrait artist Sir Joshua Reynolds. Roynolds held strong opinions about the use of colour in portraits and had specifically stated that paintings should always contain a warm, mellow colour, made up of yellows, reds or a yellowish white. Reynolds also thought that colder colours such as blue, grey and green should only play a supporting role to off-set these warmer colours. What's more, to achieve this, he believed that they should only be used very sparingly. In fact, The Blue Boy is quite the opposite, with blue clearly dominating the entire portrait.
The Painting's Journey over Time
The portrait was unveiled in 1770 at the Royal Academy and, as Gainsborough had hoped, it enjoyed a rave reception at this prestigious newly-opened venue. Viewers liked the vubrant colours and well-thought-through brush strokes, making it an instant success. The Blue Boy makes such an impact with its life-size dimensions, measuring 1.78 m x 1.12 m. Initially, the subject of the portrain, Jonathan Buttall, owned the painting. However, in 1796, he was declared bankrupt and sold it to John Nesbitt, a politician at the time. At the turn of the nineteenth century, the portrait fell into the hands of the well-known portrait artist, John Hoppner, but in 1809 it was sold to Earl Grosvenor. It remained in his family for over 100 years until it was sold by the second Duke of Westminster.
While the original painting was exhibited at the British Institution and the Royal Academy where it was subject to much critical acclaim, it was also reproduced as prints, which were available to the general public. By 1920, it had earned its place as one of the iconic pantings of English heritage. However, in 1921, The Blue Boy was sold to dealer Joseph Duveen and left England bound for America and a new home with railroad tycoon Henry Edwards Huntington. This caused an English outcry among many who were sickened by the portrait leaving its homeland.
The Encyclopaedia Britannica reports that Huntington purchased the portrait for $728,800 (£182,200), which was a record breaking price at the time. The New York Times, reported the purchase price as being sold for $640,000 on 11 November 1921. This equals a staggering $8.5 million today. Ahead of The Blue Boy's departure for the U.S., it was exhibited for a final time by The National Gallery, attracting an incredible 90,000 people. Charles Holmes, director of the gallery, was so moved by the portrait's impending departure that he inscribed 'Au Revoir, C.H.' on the back, which was technically an act of vandalism!
![Pinkie Pinkie](/uploads/1/1/8/6/118696348/825608807.jpg)
A Home in the US and Fascinating Insights
Since arriving in the U.S., the painting has stayed there and is now part of the Huntington Library's collection in California. There, it shares the spotlight with another portrait from the collection, Pinkie by Thomas Lawrence, a pretty young girl dressed in pink. Lawrence was also an English portrait artist and painted Pinkie nearly a quarter of a centure after Gainsborough's The Blue Boy. However, the two portraits face eachother in the Huntington Library gallery, giving the appearance of the young subjects staring quizzically at one other.
There was a fascinating insight into the portrait's roots in 1939 when it was X-rayed, revealing that an unfinished painting of an older man had originally been painted onto the canvas before the boy covered him over. Another surprise followed in 1995 when the painting was again X-rayed, showing that Gainsborough had painted a dog next to the boy, but then covered it over with rocks.
The Blue Boy as a Contemporary Source of Inspiration
Over time, The Blue Boy has inspired other works of art. Indeed, in 1919, German film producer Friedrich Wilhelm Murnau created a film called Knabe in Blau (The Boy in Blue). Gainsborough's painting also encouraged pop artist Robert Rauschenberg to pick up a brush and start painting. More recently in 2010, The Blue Boy influenced Django Unchained, a western by Quentin Tarantino. In this film, the anti-hero wears a bright blue suit, the inrpiration for this being The Blue Boy as confirmed by costume designer Sharen Davis. In conclusion the portrain The Blue Boy is not just remarkable due to the boy's presence, but also his lavish costume, which stands out from the background, giving an air of confidence, grandeur and status.
Thomas Gainsborough's The Blue Boy oil painting is a classic period work which has become one of the most famous British paintings of that time, and also a popular choice as art reproduction for those looking to add some classic British art to their own homes. Gainsborough was most famous for depicting full length portraits of high-standing people of the era with complex landscapes set across the background, which was relatively unusual at that time. The Blue Boy by Thomas Gainsborough is a portrait of a young man, believed to be Jonathan Buttall, the son of a wealthy hardware merchant. This was never fully confirmed, however.
Gainsborough is believed to have been influenced throughout his career by the workings of Van Dyck, and The Blue Boy offers great similarities to Van Dyck's portrait of Charles II when a boy. Thomas Gainsborough was just one of several key British artists from traditional movements such as Renaissance, Baroque and Romanticism who helped develop British artists. JMW Turner was a key painter from the latter, and you can find Turner paintings here. For those interested in famous British oil paintings, you may also like the Fighting Temeraire by William Turner. It features a classic Turner Romanticist seascape and remains that artist's most loved painting.
The Blue Boy | |
---|---|
Artist | Thomas Gainsborough |
Year | c. 1770 |
Medium | oil on canvas |
Movement | Rococo |
Dimensions | 177.8 cm × 112.1 cm (70.0 in × 44.1 in) |
Location | Henry E. Huntington Art Gallery[1], San Marino, California |
Blue Boy And Pinkie Art
The Blue Boy (c. 1770) is a full-length portrait in oil by Thomas Gainsborough, now at the Huntington Library, San Marino, California.[2]
History[edit]
Perhaps Gainsborough's most famous work, it is thought to be a portrait of Jonathan Buttle (1752–1805), the son of a wealthy hardware merchant, although this has never been proven. It is a historical costume study as well as a portrait: the youth in his seventeenth-century apparel is regarded as Gainsborough's homage to Anthony van Dyck, and in particular is very close to Van Dyck's portraits of Charles II as a boy.
Gainsborough had already drawn something on the canvas before beginning The Blue Boy, which he painted over. The painting is about life-size, measuring 48 inches (1,200 mm) wide by 70 inches (1,800 mm) tall. Gainsborough painted the portrait in response to the advice of his rival Sir Joshua Reynolds,[3] who had written:
It ought, in my opinion, to be indispensably observed, that the masses of light in a picture be always of a warm, mellow colour, yellow, red, or a yellowish white, and that the blue, the grey, or the green colours be kept almost entirely out of these masses, and be used only to support or set off these warm colours; and for this purpose, a small proportion of cold colour will be sufficient. Let this conduct be reversed; let the light be cold, and the surrounding colour warm, as we often see in the works of the Roman and Florentine painters, and it will be out of the power of art, even in the hands of Rubens and Titian, to make a picture splendid and harmonious.[3]
Van Dyck's portrait of Charles II as a boy
The painting was in Jonathan Buttle's possession until he filed for bankruptcy in 1796. It was bought first by the politician John Nesbitt and then, in 1802, by the portrait painter John Hoppner. In about 1809, The Blue Boy entered the collection of the Earl Grosvenor and remained with his descendants until its sale by the second Duke of Westminster to the dealer Joseph Duveen in 1921.[4] By then, it had become a great popular favourite in print reproductions, after being exhibited to the public in various exhibitions at the British Institution, Royal Academy, and elsewhere.
In 1919, the painting inspired German film producer Friedrich Wilhelm Murnau to create his debut film Knabe in Blau (The Boy in Blue).[5]
In a move that caused a public outcry in Britain, it was then sold to the American railway pioneer Henry Edwards Huntington for $728,800 (£182,200), according to Duveen's bill,[6] a then-record price for any painting. According to a mention in The New York Times, dated 11 November 1921, the purchase price was $640,000, which would be $9.17 million in 2019.[7]
Before its departure to California in 1922, The Blue Boy was briefly put on display at the National Gallery where it was seen by 90,000 people; the Gallery's director Charles Holmes was moved to scrawl farewell words on the back of the painting: 'Au Revoir, C.H.'[8]
It was this painting that moved pop artist Robert Rauschenberg toward painting.[9] It is often paired with a painting by Thomas Lawrence called Pinkie which sits opposite to it at the Huntington Library.
References[edit]
Citations[edit]
- ^Children's Encyclopædia Britannica. 8. London. 1969. p. 12; see plate.
- ^'Jonathan Buttal: The Blue Boy (c 1770)'. The Huntington Library. Archived from the original on 19 June 2010. Retrieved 7 December 2009.
- ^ abGower, Ronald Sutherland (1903). Thomas Gainsborough. G. Bell and Sons. pp. 77–78. Retrieved 2 October 2012 – via Google Books.
- ^'Duveens offer a Reynolds to Louvre'. New York Times. 19 October 1921.
- ^Bock, Hans-Michael (2009). Hans-Michael Bock, Tim Bergfelder (ed.). The concise Cinegraph: encyclopaedia of German cinema. Berghahn Books. p. 334. ISBN978-1-57181-655-9.
- ^Thorpe, James Ernest, Henry Edwards Huntington, A Biography, Berkeley: University of California Press, 1994, p. 438.
- ^'WolframAlpha conversion'.
- ^''Blue Boy's' Transfer Begins in Secrecy'(PDF). The New York Times. 26 January 1922. Retrieved 7 December 2009.
- ^Tuchman, Phyllis (16 May 2008). 'The Invincible Robert Rauschenberg'. Obit Magazine. Retrieved 6 December 2009.
Further reading[edit]
- Conisbee, Philip (2003). 'The Ones That Got Away'. In Verdi, Richard (ed.). Saved! 100 Years of the National Art Collection Fund. London: Scala.
- Conlin, Jonathan (2006). The Nation's Mantelpiece: A history of the National Gallery. London: Pallas Athene.
- Thicknesse, Philip (1790). Life of Sir Thomas Gainsborough.
- Tyler, David (2004). 'Jonathan Buttall'. Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
See also[edit]
Blue Boy And Pinkie Figurines
External links[edit]
Media related to The Blue Boy at Wikimedia Commons
Blue Boy And Pinkie Lamps
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