Full-length oil portrait of Mrs John Douglas (Frances Browne), sitting and reading a letter. Frances leans her right elbow on the pedestal of a sculpted classic vase to the left. Her finger supports her head. She is reading an open letter, the writing suggests but is not legible, which she is holding in her left hand. Her right leg is crossed over her left hand. She is wearing a low-cut silk dress with a red checked brooch and a voluminous overskirt on which she is resting her elbow. It falls to the right and reveals her underskirt and slippers. Strings of pearls decorate her hair, cleavage and sleeves. A large tree appears to the left. In the distance clouds and trees appear on the right. In front of the pedestal a wild convolvulus plant grows.
Gainsborough's delightful brushwork and subtle use of colour was recently unveiled when this painting was cleaned. The white is visible again in the skin, the layered fabrics, the paper and the pearls.
Thomas Gainsborough was an English artist mainly known for his portraits and landscapes. Together with Sir Joshua Reynolds, Gainsborough was one of the most important and successful artists of the eighteenth century.
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