Thomas Gainsborough

British painter. Born in Sudbury, he went to London at the age of 15 to study painting, and returned to his hometown in 1748. He made a living in Suffolk by painting portraits as a profession, and in his spare time he painted landscapes, which he loved, and enjoyed playing the violin. In 1759 he moved to Bath, where he attracted attention. He eventually went to London, where he became known as a portrait painter on a par with J. Reynolds. His landscapes also gained him fame, but they did not sell. He was a founding committee member of the Royal Academy, and became a member when the academy was founded. Some of his portraits are elegant, based on Van Dyck's, but many of his works depict people and landscapes together, showing the charm of rural life where people and landscapes blend together. When it comes to landscape paintings themselves, the sky is cloudy, the scene is desolate, and there is a sense of Nordic darkness and melancholy. His solitary emotions, and his treatment of light and color break away from the Italian style that was popular at the time, and have a national and national feeling. He is the founder and founder of British landscape painting.

[Kenjiro Okamoto]

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

イギリスの画家。サドベリーに生まれ、15歳のときロンドンに出て画(え)を習い、1748年故郷に帰った。サフォークで職業として肖像画を描いて生計をたて、その合間に好きな風景画を描き、バイオリンを弾いて楽しんだ。59年バースに移住し、注目された。やがてロンドンに出、肖像画家としてJ・レノルズと並び称されることになる。風景画も名声は得たが売れなかった。ロイヤル・アカデミーの設立委員となり、創立とともに会員となった。肖像画はファン・ダイクに基づく流麗な作品もあるが、かなり多くは人物と風景とをいっしょに描き、人物と風景とが溶け込んだ田園生活の魅力を示している。それが風景画そのものになると、空は曇り、情景は荒涼として、北欧的な暗さと哀愁が感じられる。孤独な情感、光と色の処理は、当時流行のイタリア風を脱却し、国土的、国民的な感情をもつ。イギリス風景画の創始者、樹立者である。

［岡本謙次郎］

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