Portrait of John Gainsborough (1711-1772)
Painted by John Theodore
Heins (1697-1756)
Signed and dated 1731, 74.8 x 63cm oil on canvas
In 1731 Heins travelled to Sudbury in Suffolk, where he had been commissioned to paint the family of the entrepreneur Thomas Gainsborough (1678-1739), paternal uncle of the artist of the same name and the father of John Gainsborough (1709-1738) depicted here. This painting was acquired by Gainsborough's House in 1984, along with Heins's portrait of the sitter's brother, Thomas Gainsborough (1711-72). Gainsborough's House, 46 Gainsborough Street, Sudbury, Suffolk. www.gainsborough.org