Wooded landscape with figures

Thomas Gainsborough had a passion for the English landscape, devoting many hours to studying the effects of changing light and shade on the woods and fields of his local surroundings, first around Ipswich, where he moved from London in 1752, and then in Bath, where he worked from 1759 to 1773. He was influenced by the Dutch landscape artist Jacob van Ruisdael, but adapted his techniques to English settings. According to Sir Joshua Reyonds, first director of the Royal Academy in 1768, when failing light or intemperate weather precluded working out of doors, Gainsborough would carry tree branches and other vegetation into his studio so that he could study them at leisure. He also created miniature 'landskips' out of broken stones, dried herbs, broccoli and the like, transforming them into sketches of rocks, trees and water, and using candles to create appropriate light effects. Reynolds, Gainsborough's greatest rival, disapproved of this practice, declaring that artists should seek to improve the natural world, making a more ideal vision.

Yet Gainsborough's keen eye offers a perspective on 18th century rural life that is immensely appealing. In this study, three travellers rest in a clearing. The centural figure leans over a neatly stacked pile of wood and gazes into the distance. A second man perches somewhat precariously on listening to his companion. Light falls from the right, the deep shadows suggesting late afternoon.  In the shade, a young woman sits on the ground as if she has been overtaken by weariness, legs outstretched like a collapsed doll. Gainsborough has captured a moment in time - the viewer is left to imagine where these figures might have come from and where they will move on to after they have rested. The artist's characteristic strong diagonal shading draws the viewer's eye to the deeply wooded background, while rapidly drawn calligraphic swirls suggest the leaves. In the 18th century it was often argued that hard work and enlightened land management were signs of material prosperity. Gainsborough may perhaps have reinforced this belief by including the neatly stacked piles of wood in the forest clearing.

Sourced from: Mary Kisler, 'Thomas Gainsborough...' in William McAloon (ed.) <em>Art at Te Papa</em> (Wellington; Te Papa Press, 2009), p. 39.