Oil paint on canvas
Tate Collection
Works with images
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Collection
<a href="https://www.tate.org.uk/art/artists/thomas-gainsborough-199" aria-label="More by Thomas Gainsborough" data-gtm-name="header_link_artist" data-gtm-destination="page--artist">Thomas Gainsborough</a>
John Needham 10th Viscount Kilmorey
Purchased 1934
adults
aristocrat
cane / walking stick
clothing and personal items
individuals: male
Kilmorey, John Needham, 10th Viscount
landscape
man
named individuals
objects
people
portraits
royalty and social rank
wooded
work and occupations
<p>One of Gainsborough's great gifts as a painter was his ability to convey in his sitters a sense both of dignity and informality, and to combine these in a peculiarly English way. In this portrait, probably commissioned in 1768 to celebrate Kilmorey's inheriting the title, the twisting spiral of the tree trunk functions as the equivalent of the classical column so often used in Baroque portraiture, and helps to emphasise the sitter's eminence. However, the grand and swagger air is softened by the suggestion of a smile on Kilmorey's face. The cool, sylvan landscape painted in thin greys and silvers serves to offset the deep rich blues, scarlets and gold of the sitter's costume.</p><p><em>Gallery label, August 2004</em></p>
painting oil paint canvas
25 June 2002 – 15 September 2002
2002-09-15
25 June 2002 – 15 September 2002
2002-09-15
2002-06-25
Holburne Museum of Art (Bath, UK)
http://www.bath.ac.uk/Holburne/
2002-06-25
Pickpocketing the Rich: Portrait Painting in 18th Century Bath
Loan-out
11 September 2019 – 31 May 2020
2020-05-31
11 September 2019 – 16 February 2020
2020-02-16
2019-09-11
Musée du Luxembourg (Paris, France)
29 February 2020 – 31 May 2020
2020-05-31
2020-02-29
External
2019-09-11
Gainsborough to Turner: The Golden Age of English Painting
Loan-out
John Needham, 10th Viscount Kilmorey
support: 2337 × 1562 mm
frame: 2630 × 1840 × 145 mm
Purchased 1934
<p>One of Gainsborough's great gifts as a painter was his ability to convey in his sitters a sense both of dignity and informality, and to combine these in a peculiarly English way. In this <a class="glossarylinktopopup" data-gtm-destination="article-page" data-gtm-name="body_text_link" href="http://www.tate.org.uk/learn/online-resources/glossary/p/portrait" title="Glossary definition for 'Portrait'"><span>portrait</span></a>, probably commissioned in 1768 to celebrate Kilmorey's inheriting the title, the twisting spiral of the tree trunk functions as the equivalent of the <a class="glossarylinktopopup" data-gtm-destination="article-page" data-gtm-name="body_text_link" href="http://www.tate.org.uk/learn/online-resources/glossary/c/classicism" title="Glossary definition for 'Classicism'"><span>classical</span></a> column so often used in <a class="glossarylinktopopup" data-gtm-destination="article-page" data-gtm-name="body_text_link" href="http://www.tate.org.uk/learn/online-resources/glossary/b/baroque" title="Glossary definition for 'Baroque'"><span>Baroque</span></a> portraiture, and helps to emphasise the sitter's eminence. However, the grand and swagger air is softened by the suggestion of a smile on Kilmorey's face. The cool, sylvan <a class="glossarylinktopopup" data-gtm-destination="article-page" data-gtm-name="body_text_link" href="http://www.tate.org.uk/learn/online-resources/glossary/l/landscape" title="Glossary definition for 'Landscape'"><span>landscape</span></a> painted in thin greys and silvers serves to offset the deep rich blues, scarlets and gold of the sitter's costume.</p>
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2004-08-31T00:00:00
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adults aristocrat cane / walking stick clothing and personal items individuals: male Kilmorey, John Needham, 10th Viscount landscape man named individuals objects people portraits royalty and social rank wooded work and occupations