Editing Thomas Gainsborough (section)

==Technique==
[[File:Girl with Pigs by Thomas Gainsborough.jpg|thumb|upright|''Girl with Pigs'', 1781–82, private collection, was said by Sir Joshua Reynolds to be "the best picture he ever painted".<ref name=Willes/>]]
The art historian [[Michael Rosenthal]] described Gainsborough as "one of the most technically proficient and, at the same time, most experimental artists of his time".<ref name="Rosenthal_Oxford"/> He was noted for the speed with which he applied paint, and he worked more from observations of nature (and of human nature) than from application of formal academic rules.<ref name="Rosenthal_Oxford"/> The poetic sensibility of his paintings caused [[John Constable|Constable]] to say, "On looking at them, we find tears in our eyes and know not what brings them."

Gainsborough's enthusiasm for landscapes is shown in the way he merged figures of the portraits with the scenes behind them.  His landscapes were often painted at night by candlelight, using a tabletop arrangement of stones, pieces of mirrors, broccoli, and the like as a model.<ref name="Rosenthal_Oxford"/> His later work was characterised by a light palette and easy, economical strokes.<ref>{{cite book | last1 = Birmingham Museum of Art | title = Birmingham Museum of Art: A Guide to the Collection | publisher = Giles | year = 2010 | location = London | pages = 80 | url = http://www.birminghammuseumstore.org/bmapu.html | access-date = 24 June 2011 | isbn = 978-1-904832-77-5 | url-status = dead | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20110910171150/http://www.birminghammuseumstore.org/bmapu.html | archive-date = 10 September 2011 | df = dmy-all }}</ref>

Gainsborough's only known assistant was his nephew, [[Gainsborough Dupont]].<ref name=NGA/>