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Paintings

The Hon. Anne (Batson) Fane

1 of 2
Type
Paintings(Opens in new tab)
Date
ca.1782
Accession number
26.108
Maker
Thomas Gainsborough(Opens in new tab) (British, 1727–1788)
Sitter
Hon. Anne (Baston) Fane(Opens in new tab) (British, 1758–1838)
Dimensions
35 1/2 x 27 5/8 in. (90.2 x 70.2 cm.)
Medium
oil on canvas
Description
Seated on a round-backed chair, nearly half-length and nearly full front, the head turned slightly left. The face a broad oval, with low forehead and hazel eyes; dark, lightly powdered hair dressed high, with one tress on her right shoulder. Her low dress of volet-gray has a silvery muslin fichu and sleeves, with a pearl ornament at the breast. Round the waist a scarf of old gold is held by the right hand resting on the left, which lies palm upward. Dark background. In a painted oval.
Credit
The Huntington Library, Art Museum, and Botanical Gardens
Department
European Art
Find out more
View in the Art Museum catalog(Opens in new tab)
This portrait demonstrates the dazzling brushwork that Gainsborough brought to even the most routine commissions. Though its basic composition is one the artist repeated many times, the vigorous brushstrokes seem spontaneous. He devotes particular attention to capturing the complex visual effects produced by the layers of gossamer-thin fabric in the figure’s dress, where brisk, jagged strokes of white paint dance above darker violet-gray to imitate the look of a rich silk undersleeve beneath transparent white gauze.

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