Mrs. Paul Cobb Methuen
Thomas Gainsborough·c. 1776/1777
Historical Context
Mrs. Paul Cobb Methuen, painted around 1776–1777, portrays a member of the Wiltshire gentry in Gainsborough’s characteristic Bath-period style. The sitter’s relaxed pose and natural setting demonstrate Gainsborough’s preference for outdoor portrait settings that integrated the figure with the surrounding landscape. This approach contrasted sharply with Reynolds’s tendency to place sitters in theatrical, studio-created environments. The painting’s silvery tonality and fluid brushwork exemplify the qualities that made Gainsborough the preferred portraitist of those who valued natural elegance over formal grandeur.
Technical Analysis
The portrait balances detailed facial modeling with impressionistic handling of costume and background. Gainsborough's palette is deliberately limited, using warm earth tones and soft blues that create a harmonious, understated color scheme.
Look Closer
- ◆Look at the pose — the relaxed, natural stance that Gainsborough gave his Bath sitters, Mrs. Methuen's figure resting easily rather than arranged in the formal positions of earlier portrait conventions.
- ◆Notice the limited palette — warm, harmonious tones that Gainsborough used for the Wiltshire gentry, the colors creating a refined, somewhat understated elegance.
- ◆Observe the landscape background — atmospheric trees and sky visible behind the sitter, connecting her to the natural world in Gainsborough's characteristic manner.
- ◆Find the costume details — the specific fashionable dress of the mid-1770s rendered with Gainsborough's economical but accurate treatment of fabric texture and cut.
Provenance
Probably intended for the sitter's husband, Paul Cobb Methuen [1752-1816], Corsham Court, Wiltshire, but possibly neither finished nor delivered. Possibly (Mrs. Gainsborough sale, Christie's, London, 10-11 April 1797, 1st day, no. 12);[1] Caleb Whitefoord [1734-1810]. Paul Sanford Methuen, 3rd baron Methuen [1845-1932], Corsham Court; purchased c.1893 by (Wallis & Son, London); sold 1893 to Peter A.B. Widener, Elkins Park, Pennsylvania; inheritance from the Estate of Peter A.B. Widener by gift through power of appointment of Joseph E. Widener, Elkins Park; gift 1942 to NGA. [1] Sir Ellis Waterhouse, _Gainsborough_, London, 1958: no. 483, has suggested that this lot, one of a number of unfinished portraits in the sale, may be identical with the Washington picture, a view that is supported by the evidence of the change in format and additions to the canvas, and by the absence of documentation in the Corsham Court archives.
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