Thomas Gainsborough R.A.

Charles, Viscount Eversley (1794-1888);
By whose Estate sold, London, Christie's, 9 May 1896, lot 56, to Agnew;
With Thos. Agnew & Sons, London;
With Howard Young, New York, by 1928;
With Robert C. Vose, Boston;
From whom purchased by Miss Helen Norton, Boston and Montreal, 19 January 1931;
Purchased from her executrix, Verina L. Thornton, by Vose Galleries, Boston, 24 May 1968;
With Vose Galleries, Boston;
From whom purchased by the present owner.

"Notable Works of Art now on the Market," in The Burlington Magazine (Advertisement Supplement), December 1969, reproduced plate LXXIV;
J. Hayes, The Landscape Paintings of Thomas Gainsborough, A Critical Text and Catalogue Raisonné, Ithaca 1982, vol. II, pp. 425-426, cat. no. 86, reproduced (as not seen, painted circa 1765-6; incorrectly listed as oil on canvas).

The following condition report has been provided by Simon Parkes of Simon Parkes Art Conservation, Inc. 502 East 74th St. New York, NY 212-734-3920, simonparkes@msn.com, an independent restorer who is not an employee of Sotheby's. This work on panel has been cradled on the reverse. The varnish is very yellow. If and when the picture is cleaned, one can be quite optimistic about the results. Within the group of trees in the upper center, there are a few old retouches addressing some separation cracking in some of the artist's glazes. However, it does not seem that the profiles of the trees have been abraded, and this kind of cracking is expected in 18th century English pigment. The figures and the cart in the center seem to be healthy. There are some restorations on the track in the lower left. Under ultraviolet light, although a few spots of retouching can be seen in the sky, the only area of concentration is the white cloud. It is hard to know what these retouches address here, but it is presumably some cracking or discoloration. It is recommended that the work be cleaned and retouched, although it certainly looks very respectable as is.
"This lot is offered for sale subject to Sotheby's Conditions of Business, which are available on request and printed in Sotheby's sale catalogues. The independent reports contained in this document are provided for prospective bidders' information only and without warranty by Sotheby's or the Seller."

This painting is related by John Hayes (see Literature) to a large work, Wooded Landscape with Country Wagon, Milkmaid and Drover, that Gainsborough painted for exhibition at the Society of Artists in 1766.¹  In a number of small paintings datable to the mid-1760s, Gainsborough experimented with simple yet grand compositions, with increasing emphasis on the foliage.  His practice of making these small model landscapes as a way of thinking through and carrying forward a design had become his preferred working method.  In addition, Gainsborough often looked to the works of the Dutch 17^th century landscape painters for inspiration and, indeed, the present painting seems to have been based on a work ascribed to Pieter Molijn (1595-1661), an artist whose works appeared in Gainsborough’s own personal collection.²  Here, massive trees dominate the left side of the composition, which opens up to the distance at right.  In the final exhibited work, Gainsborough filled both sides and the entire upper portion of his canvas with foliage, overpowering the wagon and other elements of the composition, and echoing the somber grandeur of landscapes by Jacob van Ruisdael.³

To be included in the forthcoming catalogue of the works of Gainsborough, under the direction of Hugh Belsey.

1.  Oil on canvas, 57 by 47 in.; see J. Hayes, under Literature, pp. 426-427, cat. no. 87, reproduced.
2.  The painting ascribed to Molijn last appeared in a provincial salesroom in Farnham, Surrey in the 1990s; information provided by Hugh Belsey.
3.  See J. Hayes, under Literature, vol. I, pp. 101-102.