Portrait of a Woman in Blue (previously known as 'Miss Edgar')

Gainsborough's Portrait of a Woman in Blue of around 1762, previously misidentified, depicts an unknown woman whose formal blue dress provides the painting's most distinctive visual element. The blue gown — unusual in the darker tones that dominated female costume of the period — creates a chromatic focus that Gainsborough exploits for decorative and expressive effect. The portrait demonstrates his developing Bath period female style with the combination of formal elegance and natural ease that defined his most successful female representations.

The blue dress anchors the composition, its cool tones set off by the warm flesh of the face and the neutral background. Gainsborough's handling of the blue fabric — painted with fluid, confident strokes that capture the weight and sheen of the material — demonstrates his extraordinary sensitivity to color relationships.