1727 Sudburg, Suffolk
1788 London

The English portrait and landscape painter Thomas Gainsborough was born as the first son of a mercer in Sudbury (Suffolk) on 14 May, 1727. Gainsborough went to London at the age of 13 to become a silver engraver and met William Hogarth and other artists. In 1749 Gainsborough left London and returned to Sudbury before moving to the modern city of Bath in 1759. Thomas Gainsborough was one of the founding members of the Royal Academy of Arts in London chaired by Joshua Reynold. At the first public exhibiton in 1768 Gainsborough showed a portrait of Isabella Lady Molyneux. A typical example for Gainsborough's style is the portrait of William Hallet and his wife Elizabeth during their "Morning Walk" (1785, London, National Gallery). In 1774 Gainsborough finally moved to London where he died on 2 August, 1788.