A Couple in a Landscape
Artist: Thomas Gainsborough (English, 1727–1788)
Date: c. 1753
Medium: OIl on Canvas
Collection: Dulwich Picture Gallery, London
Description
This pastoral scene, infused with a warm glow of late summer, provides the setting for an enigmatic portrait of a young couple. Known as a conversation piece, this small-scale work pays equal attention to the character of the ancient tree as to the likenesses of the figures resting beneath its boughs. The gnarled trunk of the aged oak is central to the composition, framing the woman under an outstretched branch, the shape of which is mirrored by a twisted twig or root on the ground below.
The English artist Thomas Gainsborough has depicted the young couple resting against a wooden fence on the edge of a field. The ripening corn glimpsed to the left reflects the last of the summer sunshine, while the autumnal hues of the oak and the bare fields on the right show the progress of the season. There is a sense of relaxed familiarity between the couple, their synchronised crossed feet and buckled shoes both pointing in the same direction. The woman engages the viewer with a half-smile, holding a drawing in one hand and a crayon in the other – perhaps the implements of an amateur artist. Standing out against the earth tones of the landscape setting, the man’s formal dark coat and red waistcoat are perhaps more at home in a townhouse parlour than on a country walk. In contrast, the colours of the young woman’s dress are in tune with the natural surroundings, the light brown tone almost merging with the scrubby tussock on which she rests.
