The Blue Boy

The Blue Boy is an oil portrait painted by Thomas Gainsborough around 1770, showing a young man in blue satin against a landscape. Its theatrical costume and composition made it one of Gainsborough’s best-known works.

Thomas Gainsborough: Thomas Gainsborough was an English portrait and landscape painter active in the eighteenth century. He painted The Blue Boy and combined portraiture with a landscape setting.
Full-length portrait: A full-length portrait depicts a person from head to foot. Gainsborough presents the sitter’s entire figure rather than limiting the image to a bust.
Royal Academy of Arts: The Royal Academy of Arts is a London institution founded in 1768 to promote visual arts. Gainsborough exhibited the portrait there in 1770, under the title A Portrait of a Young Gentleman.
Huntington Library: The Huntington Library, Art Museum, and Botanical Gardens is a cultural institution in San Marino, California. Henry E. Huntington bought the painting in 1921 for the institution’s collection.
The Pink Boy: The Pink Boy is a portrait of a boy in pink clothing attributed to Thomas Gainsborough. Its title and costume invite comparison, though its attribution and history differ from The Blue Boy.
Jonathan Buttall: Jonathan Buttall was a London ironmonger commonly identified as the sitter in Gainsborough’s The Blue Boy. He is the likely identity of the young man shown in the portrait.
Composition (visual arts): Composition is the arrangement of visual elements within an artwork. The upright figure stands out against the sweeping, darker landscape.
Eighteenth-century British art: Eighteenth-century British art encompasses visual art produced in Britain between 1700 and 1799. The portrait belongs to a period when British portraiture gained international prominence.
Henry E. Huntington: Henry E. Huntington was an American businessman and collector who founded a major cultural institution in California. His purchase brought The Blue Boy from Britain to the United States.
Mr and Mrs Andrews: Mr and Mrs Andrews is an unfinished portrait by Thomas Gainsborough showing a couple in an English landscape. It likewise integrates portrait figures with a landscape, but emphasizes property and social status.

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Grand mannerBroader topic: Its pose and costume invoke older aristocratic portrait conventions while showcasing Gainsborough's distinct touch.