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Sarah Kirby (née Bull); (John) Joshua Kirby
Thomas Gainsborough·1751
Historical Context
Sarah Kirby (née Bull) and Joshua Kirby from 1751, in the National Portrait Gallery, is a double portrait of two figures who played significant roles in Gainsborough's early career. Joshua Kirby was a painter, teacher of perspective, and friend of Horace Walpole who served as drawing master to George III and who provided Gainsborough with connections to the London art world during his formative years in Suffolk. The portrait of Joshua and Sarah together reflects the close personal friendship that existed between Gainsborough and the Kirby family and demonstrates his ability in these early years to capture individual character in a relaxed, natural composition. The National Portrait Gallery holds the work alongside other early Gainsborough portraits that document his Suffolk period.
Technical Analysis
The double portrait is rendered with warm domestic intimacy, using Gainsborough's early style to capture family bonds with characteristic directness.
Look Closer
- ◆Notice the warmth and domestic intimacy of this double portrait — Sarah and Joshua Kirby were among Gainsborough's closest early connections, and the personal affection shows in the natural poses.
- ◆Look at the feathery brushwork applied with sponges, palette knives, and long-handled brushes — Gainsborough's distinctive technique creates the shimmering atmospheric quality even in this relatively early work.
- ◆Observe how the two figures relate to each other spatially — the composition conveys the ease of a couple well known to the painter.
- ◆Find the landscape setting: even in a double portrait, Gainsborough situates his sitters in a natural environment, maintaining the fusion of portraiture and landscape that defined his practice.
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