How Mr. and Mrs. Robert Andrews are one and the Same Person
Gainsborough, Mr. and Mrs. Robert Andrews (c. 1748-9)
This painting, a British icon, is considered one of the National Gallery's most important masterpieces but, as we show in our most recent entry, it is largely misunderstood especially by the gallery itself. The Gallery and many critics think that the couple's biography is important to the painting's meaning but Gainsborough would not have gambled on us knowing, 250 years later, who this largely insignificant couple were. No, Mr. and Mrs. Robert Andrews are not Mr. and Mrs. Robert Andrews....take a look at the entry and please pass the news on. It's time that the art world recognized that important portraits are not intended to be accurate depictions of the sitters but poetic descriptions of the artist's own creative mind.
Posted 06 Dec 2010: GainsboroughPortraiture
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