* artists illustrating boys fashions: Sir Thomas Gainsborough boys' fashions dresses








Gainsborough: Boys' Fashions--Dresses



Figure 1.-- While Gainsbourgh's most famous portraits of boys were boys costumed in 17th century cavaler fashions, he also painted boys in contemporary styles. We see unbreeched boys in dresses. A good example is Master John Heathcote wearing a long white dress with a blue sash. Gainborough painted the boy about 1771.

While Gainsbourgh's most famous portraits of boys were boys costumed in 17th century cavaler fashions, he also painted boys in contemporary styles. We see unbreeched boys in dresses. A good example is Master John Heathcote wearing a long white dress with a blue sash. Gainborough painted the boy about 1771. There is a very sad story behind the painting. John Heathcote was the son of an aristocratic parents. The portrait was painted when the boy was 4-5 in 1771 as a keepsake for the family who had recently lost ALL their other children in an epidemic. It goes to show wealth doesn't prevent tragedy. We notice three of the four Marsham children are wearing white Empire dresses. Younger boys wore dresses, but these seem to be three girls.








HBC






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Created: 6:21 AM 7/28/2010
Last updated: 2:07 PM 4/23/2020