Portrait of a Girl (fragment of 'Portrait of a Boy and Girl')

Gainsborough's Portrait of a Girl (fragment) of around 1744, companion fragment to the Portrait of a Boy, preserves a young girl's face with the natural freshness characteristic of his earliest portrait work. The fragment's original context was a double portrait subsequently cut, and the girl's specific physiognomy and natural expression demonstrate Gainsborough's early capacity for direct observation of childhood's unguarded presence. Such early works document his formation as a portraitist before Bath transformed his style and social position.

Like its companion, this fragment reveals Gainsborough's precocious ability to capture character and expression. The girl's features are painted with a lightness of touch unusual for such a young artist, the eyes particularly well-observed and full of the vitality that characterizes Gainsborough's best portraits.