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THOMAS GAINSBOROUGH, R.A. (1727-1788) "THE MALL ON ST. JAMES PARK"
Canvas, 573/4 inches by 47 1/2 inches
THE scene is central Avenue of the Mall, behind Carlton House, London- a fashionable promenade under the trees, with groups of small figures, the central one consisting of several of the royal princesses. Painted about 1786. Catalogued: "Gainsborough ", by Armstrong, p.206, and
mentioned there on pp. 42, 126, 135, 158, 168, 171, 182, 183, 185.
Reproduced: "Gainsborough," by Armstrong, facing p 140
" "Gainsborough, " by Chamberlain, p. 47 " "The Masterpieces of Gainsborough, " p. 52
Mentioned: "Gainsborough, " by Chamberlain, pp. 21, 44,
120, 144, 202. " "Gainsborough, " by Grieg, pp. 35, 142, 162, 164.
Collections: George Frost, an artist and fellow-townsman
of Gainsborough " Sir Audley Dallas Neeld, Bart., Grittleton House, near Chippenham, Wilts.
"That Gainsborough retained his full powers until the last is proved by such a picture as "The Mall, St. James's Park,' painted in 1786. This is a superb tour de force of painting. It recalls...Watters in his most graceful mood more than any other picture from Gainsborough's brush. There is an elegance about the composition, a delicacy in the coloring, and a freedom, lacking nothing of truth, in the handling, which combine to make it one the masterpieces of English art,"- Quated from Chamberlain's "Gainsborough, ". The Gentleman's Magazine wrote, in Gainsborough's time: "In a view of company in St. James's Park, he assumed the manner of Watteau, and produced a picture in many respects superior to any Watteau ever painted."
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