Gainsborough’s Blue Boy returns to London

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Sir Thomas Gainsborough's The Blue Boy goes on show at the National Gallery


I t’s been a long time… A full century, to be exact. When Sir Thomas Gainsborough’s The Blue Boy was last seen at the National Gallery the year was 1921, and the painting was about to depart for its new home in the US.


Back then, the gallery’s director Charles Holmes wrote ‘au revoir’ on the painting’s reverse, in the hope it would return one day.

Well, that hope has come to pass. The work has been lent by its current owner, the Huntington Library, Art Museum, and Botanical Gardens in San Marino, California for what for most of us will be a once-in-a-lifetime exhibition in London. Who knows if the painting will ever return again?

The Blue Boy itself was created while Gainsborough was based in Bath (1759–74) at a time when the artist was taking inspiration from, among others, the Flemish artist Sir Anthony van Dyck, who had been active more than 100 years before.

In light of this, the National is showing The Blue Boy alongside a group of paintings that demonstrate Gainsborough’s ongoing interest in Van Dyck’s work.

Discussing the loan, Karen R Lawrence, Huntington President, says: ‘Given The Blue Boy’s iconic status at The Huntington, this is an unprecedented loan, one which we considered very carefully. We hope that this partnership with the National Gallery will spark new conversations, appreciation, and research on both sides of the Atlantic.’

The Blue Boy is on show from 25 January until 15 May. To find out more go to the National Gallery's website.

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