Art

ENRICHING

YOUTH

LESSON 4

The Blue Boy, Thomas Gainsborough, 1770

Art History Class Objective: Students of all ages are invited to create their own versions of
numerous great paintings. By end of The Course, participants will be able to identify several
famous paintings as well as learn some historical, cultural, and artistic information. Please
email me your painted version, to rirAdib@earthlink.net.

Fun Facts about the Blue Boy (10 minutes)

1- The Blue Boy is thought to be a portrait of Jonathan Buttall (1752–1805), the son of a
wealthy hardware merchant, who’s a friend of Gainsborough.
2- Gainsborough had already drawn something on the canvas before beginning The Blue Boy,
which he painted over.
3- The painting is about life-size.
4- In a move that caused a public outcry in Britain, it was then sold to the American railway
pioneer Henry Edwards Huntington, a then-record price for any painting which would be over
$8.5 million in 2014.
5- Before its departure to California in 1922, The Blue Boy was briefly put on display at the
National Gallery in London where it was seen by 90,000 people; the Gallery’s director Charles
Holmes was moved to scrawl farewell words on the back of the painting: “Au Revoir, C.H.” The Blue Boy, Thomas Gainsborough, 1770.
6- These novel blue tones in this painting did not have any sense of discomfort, but full of Oil on wooden panel, 70” × 44.1”
freshness. The lively, jumping blue satin and the capricious drapery, and the light were in har-
monious contrast with the blue. There is a delicate and clever contrast with the boy’s red cheaks. Thomas Gainsborough(5 minutes):
7- Gainsborough asked the boy to wear blue costumes and dressed as a Prince. He smoothly Considered one of the great masters of
and fully showed the boy’s good demeanor with bold strokes, gave full play to the sapphire portraiture and landscape, English paint-
blue light color at the same time. er Thomas Gainsborough developed an
elegant style of painting and became a
Discussions with students (15 minutes): founding member of the Royal Academy.
1- Ask the students to notice and discuss the fashion: Shoes with satin ties, Silk blue outfit,
tight pants, fluffy white collar, big hat with feather, long socks over the pants tied with a silk In 1774 he accepted a royal invitation to
ribbon. paint portraits of King George III and his
2- Notice and discuss the hair style: Big long curls in the back, short in the front. family and soon became wealthy through
3- Ask the students if they can identify where the boy is standing. Point out that the boy was numerous commissions from society’s elite.
painted in the studio, even though the artist depicted an outdoors scene in the background.
4- Ask the students what techniques did the artist use to put a big emphasis on the boy (Dark In his lifetime, Gainsborough executed
background, dark tone in the background vs. bright tones in the foreground, seems like the more than 500 paintings, over 200 of them
boy is standing in a spotlight, smooth brush-strokes on the boy vs. etc.) portraits. His portraits are characterized by
5- Ask the students to notice what makes the painting of the clothes seem like silk? (The graceful figures and thinly applied brush
seemingly shiny reflection of the light on the clothes, the smooth brush strokes vs. the rough strokes in delicate, cool colors.
background).
6- What kind of expression does the boy have on his face? discuss. Gainsborough began drawing when he
was very young. He started taking lessons
Activity (25 minutes) at the age of 13. It is said he once sketched
Distribute the B&W outline of The Blue Boy and ask the students to color it in the same style a thief stealing from the Parson’s garden
as the original. Pay attention to the smoothness of the silk blue colors (use different hues of so accurately, they recognized him as a
blue, and not just one. Use harder strokes vs softer strokes, keep white and light shades for the man from the next village. The culprit was
highlights, use black for the dark shades). apprehended.

Wrap Up (5 minutes): The speed with which he applied paint was

Ask the students what was their favorite thing they learned about the painting, the artist, and also admired.
anything else.

2020© BlueBeard Creative

ENRICHING

YOUTH
ENRICHING

YOUTH