Mary Gainsborough
Mary Gainsborough | |
|---|---|
_-_The_Artist%27s_Daughter_Mary_-_N05638_-_National_Gallery.jpg) Portrait by Thomas Gainsborough (1777) | |
| Born | 31 January 1750 |
| Died | 2 July 1826 (aged 76) |
| Burial place | St Mary's Church, Hanwell |
| Spouse | |
| Father | Thomas Gainsborough |
| Relatives | Margaret Gainsborough (sister) |
Mary "Molly" Gainsborough Fischer (/ˈɡeɪnzbərə/; 31 January 1750 – 2 July 1826) was the eldest surviving daughter of English painter Thomas Gainsborough and his wife, Margaret Burr (1728–1797). In her later years, Mary suffered from a mental disorder; it is often speculated she experienced depression or early-onset dementia.[1]
Biography
[edit]Birth and background
[edit]
Mary was born on 31 January 1750 in Sudbury, Suffolk.[2] Before her birth, her mother had given birth to a daughter of the same name, Mary (died 1748).[3] She had a younger sister Margaret ("Peggy", 1751–1820).
Her father Thomas Gainsborough, an accomplished English painter and her mother Margaret Burr (1728–1797), the illegitimate daughter of the Duke of Beaufort, married in 1746.[4]
Childhood
[edit]
By 1752, at the age of two, Mary and her family had settled in Ipswich. Although the numbers of commissions for her father's portaiture increased, his clientele was primarly made up of local merchants and squires.[4]
In 1759, her family moved within England again to Bath, living at number 17 The Circus.[5] There, her father was capable of attracting fashionable clients. A year later, Mary was baptized on 3 February 1760.[6]
London
[edit]In 1774, Mary and her family moved to London to live in Schomberg House, Pall Mall.[7][8] A commemorative blue plaque was established on the house in 1951.[9] In February 1780, Mary married Johann Christian Fischer, a contemporary of her father and German composer.[10] She was thirty years old and he was seventeen years her senior.
Mary and her husband soon formed an attachment, however to her father's dismay, Fischer continued his flirtation with Peggy.[10] In October 1780, the pair divorced; the marriage between them lasted only eight months, owing to Fischer's discord and deceit.[10]
Later life and death
[edit]After her divorce and father's death, the sisters reconciled and soon returned to their parents' house.[6] The two women lived together with their mother in Schomberg House until 1793.[6] Peggy became the nurse and protector of Mary, now suffering from mental health issues.[11] They stayed together until her sister's death in 1820. Less than a decade later, Mary died on 2 July 1825 at the age of 76.[6] She is interred in the St Mary's Church in Hanwell.
References
[edit]Citations
[edit]- ^ Gowar, Imogen Hermes (14 March 2024). "The Painter's Daughters by Emily Howes review – Gainsborough's girls". theguardian.com. Retrieved 16 March 2025.
- ^ Hamilton 2018, p. II.
- ^ Hamilton 2018, p. 23.
- ^ a b Baetjer 2009, p. 92.
- ^ Greenwood 1977, pp. 84–86.
- ^ a b c d Baetjer 2009, p. 115.
- ^ "Thomas Gainsborough". National Gallery of Art. Archived from the original on 13 December 2012. Retrieved 16 March 2025.
- ^ Plaque #2 on Open Plaques
- ^ "Thomas Gainsborough Blue Plaque". openplaques.org. Archived from the original on 23 July 2012. Retrieved 16 March 2025.
- ^ a b c Hamilton 2018, p. XXV.
- ^ "Gainsborough's daughters". nationalgallery.org.uk. Retrieved 16 March 2025.
Cited works
[edit]- Hamilton, James (13 March 2018). Gainsborough: A Portrait. Orion Publishing Group. ISBN 9781474600521.
- Baetjer, Katharine (2009). British Paintings in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1575-1875. Metropolitan Museum of Art. ISBN 9781588393487.
- Greenwood, Charles (1977). Famous Houses of the West Country. Kingsmead. ISBN 9780901571878.