Painting of the Day: The Two Daughters of Thomas Gainsborough, 1758

The Painter's Two Daughter
1758
Thomas Gainsborough
The Victoria & Albert Museum

This intriguing painting from 1758 depicts the two young daughters< Margaret and Mary, of acclaimed English artist Thomas Gainsborough.

Gainsborough’s daughters sat for him on a number of occasions. Both daughters attended Blacklands School in Chelsea, London where they each studied art. Daughter Margaret also became an accomplished musician, and, later, Mary married the oboe player Johann Christian Fischer in 1780, but the marriage as short-lived. Mary soon developed “eccentricities” which would lead to ultimate total insanity.

Margaret and Mary remained close throughout their lives, and, in fact, after their father's death in 1788, the two sisters lived together.