Thomas Gainsborough (1727 - 1788) succeeded brilliantly as a portrait painter. Society went to him for portraits. A good amateur violinist and a lover of drama, he was an artistic person by nature. Joshua Reynolds and Thomas Gainsborough created a national type of the English portrait. His manner of painting differs from Reynolds. Thomas Gainsborough's portraits of actors, actresses and his close friends are famous. One of his greatest friends was Richard Sheridan, the dramatist, whose portrait belongs to one of the best pictures of this painter. Even in his portraits Thomas Gainsborough is an out-of-door painter. The backgrounds of his portraits are often well-observed country scenes. He was one of the first to be elected to the newly established London Academy of Arts. Thomas Gainsborough is acknowledge as an excellent women painter. “The Portrait of the Duchess de Befou”, ”Mrs. Siddons”, “Two Daughters” are among his best creatures.
