Thomas Gainsborough (British Artists)
Category: Books,Arts & Photography,History & Criticism
Thomas Gainsborough (British Artists) Details
About the Author Martin Postle is a Senior Tate Curator. His publications include Sir Joshua Reynolds and Angels and Urchins. Read more
Reviews
While Gainsborough coffee table books abound, those interested in a short introduction have fewer choices. William Vaughan's Gainsborough (World of Art) and Nicola Kalinsky's Gainsborough (Phaidon Colour Library) are both excellent alternatives, but I think this one published by Tate is the best short survey of Gainsborough's life and art. The reproduction quality and size of the book compares well with a Taschen paperback. In other words, it has small but numerous color reproductions on every page supporting a fairly short text (75 p.) Be warned that these reproductions range from playing card size to postcard size. This is to be expected from a bargain-priced book, so be prepared to grab a magnifying glass.Martin Postle is an expert in 18th century English painting, having written on Joshua Reynolds and contributed to the Tate catalogue on Gainsborough. I found his prose enjoyable to read with a good balance of biographical narrative and analysis of individual pictures. Readers will absorb plenty of juicy nuggets about Gainsborough's personality, his astonishing technique, and his status in the English art world. Postle underscores Gainsborough's longstanding rivalry with Reynolds, which is touched on in virtually every chapter. A fair number of Reynolds's art is represented to illustrate the differences between the two competitive artists. You'll also learn how Gainsborough merged landscape and portraiture together in his work. Indeed, Postle takes every opportunity to remind us that Gainsborough saw himself as a great landscape artist inspired by the Dutch tradition.Nearly every significant work of Gainsborough is featured and discussed, from his formative landscapes in the 1740s and key portraits of the 1770s to his rural pictures of the 1780s. Analysis runs the gamut from 3-4 sentences to a couple paragraphs. Owing to its size, this book simply cannot present all the prevailing interpretations of Gainsborough's paintings. For example, the whole story and possible meanings behind "Mr. and Mrs. Andrews" are barely explored. Nonetheless, Postle gets to the gist of each work without being bogged down in pseudo-intellectual art criticism.Bottom line: More a Gainsborough seminar than a whole course, this slender volume will satisfy those seeking an acquaintance with this artist. Martin Postle's writing is straightforward and cogent. While there's an ample supply of reproductions (54 color, 11 b&w), keep in mind they are small because of the book's size. Overall, this is a worthy afternoon read much enhanced by having a magnifying glass on hand.