Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
George Stubbs (1724-1806)
Stubbs was the Michelangelo of horse painters. He understood these creatures from the in-
side out, having dissected them in his studio. He even used machinery to prop the corpses
up into lifelike poses. He painted the horses first on a blank canvas, then filled in the back-
ground landscape around them (notice the heavy outlines that make them stand out clearly
from the countryside). The result is both incredibly natural—from the veins in their noses
to their freshly brushed coats—and geometrically posed.
Thomas Gainsborough (1727-1788)
Gainsborough showcased the elegant, educated women of his generation. He portrayed
them as they wished to see themselves: a feminine ideal, patterned after fashion magazines.
The cheeks are rosy, the poses relaxed and S-shaped, the colors brighter and more pastel,
showing the influence of the refined French culture of the court at Versailles. His ladies
tiptoe gracefully toward us, with clear, Ivory-soap complexions that stand out from the
swirling greenery of English gardens. (Though he painted portraits, he longed to do land-
scapes.) Gainsborough worked hard to prettify his subjects, but the results were always
natural and never stuffy.
