Peter Darnell Muilman, Charles Crokatt and William Keable in a Landscape c. 1750
Dimensions support: 765 x 642 mm frame: 940 x 820 x 90 mm
Editor: This is Thomas Gainsborough's "Peter Darnell Muilman, Charles Crokatt and William Keable in a Landscape," painted sometime in the 18th century. The figures are lovely, but the way they're arranged feels a bit awkward to me. What do you see in Gainsborough's composition? Curator: Note how Gainsborough's composition deliberately utilizes a restricted tonal palette to create atmospheric cohesion. The figures are subtly integrated into the landscape through the repetition of color and form, though the stiffness undermines spatial harmony. Editor: The way the colors are repeated does unify the painting. Thanks for pointing that out! Curator: Consider also how the figures' poses and costumes contrast with the naturalism of the surrounding environment. Notice the tension between artifice and nature. Editor: I do see that now. Thanks, that's a helpful perspective.
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http://www.tate.org.uk/art/artworks/gainsborough-peter-darnell-muilman-charles-crokatt-and-william-keable-in-a-landscape-t06746
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This is one of only a few group portraits by Gainsborough, who generally preferred to paint individuals. The sitters on either side are probably Charles Crockatt and Peter Darnell Muilman, the sons of rich merchants who had recently acquired fine estates in Essex. The man playing the flute in the centre is William Keable, a minor portrait painter who taught the young gentlemen music and drawing. In this early painting, Gainsborough fuses his three great interests in life: portraiture, landscape painting and music. Gallery label, February 2016
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