being the birthplace of Thomas Gainsborough and for the house within which he spent his childhood. We’ve been threatening to go for many years and, on Friday, we finally did. He later resided there (again), following the death of his father in 1748 and before his move to Ipswich.[6] The building still survives and is now a house-museum dedicated to his life and art. Thee house was (predominantly) the focus for the journey.
The house is at 46 Gainsborough Street and dates back to around 1520. The house remained as a private residence until 1920, after which time it had various functions including a guest house and antique shop. In 1958, Gainsborough’s House Society was formed to purchase the house and establish it as a museum and monument to Thomas Gainsborough. The museum opened to the public in 1961. The museum underwent a transformational refurbishment starting in 2019; the National Centre for Thomas Gainsborough was upgraded with a new gallery and exhibition space accompanying the artist’s original home. With thanks to the Heritage Fund, the Sudbury based gallery was granted a £10m investment. The gallery space was re-opened to the public 21 November 2022.
Pleased we delayed as long as we did, as the gallery exhibition space adds to the experience and we paid for the current exhibition, Maggi Hambling Origins, which had circa 30 paintings that presented (and I quote) “Portrayals of people and places carry a sense of longer time: the unfolding of life, the workings of memory, the evolution of love, and the inescapable proximity of life to death – a theme that recurs throughout Hambling’s art“. Well worth the additional charge and good to see beyond Hambling’s seascapes for which she is so justifiably well known.
The house was also well worth a visit incidentally and, funded by the Art Pass, proved to be an interesting snapshot of both his early life and the portraiture for which is so famous. However, am I allowed to say that portrait painting in the 18th century is not really my favourite art style; something with which I suspect Gainsborough himself had some sympathy, as it is said he took much greater satisfaction from the production of landscapes.
Shout out to AG Lifestyle, where we had an excellent coffee and lovely “fiery Greek” bagel.