Sarah Siddons was a famous actress during the time
that she lived.
Gainsborough (GAINZ burro) was one of the artists she commissioned to
paint her portrait. It is said that he trouble getting her nose to look
just right.
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The painting of The Blue Boy is perhaps
the most
well known of Gainsborough's works. It is thought that it is a picture
of Jonathan Buttall, who was the son of a wealthy hardware merchant. It
is painted with oil paints on a canvas and is quite large; 48 inches
wide and 70 inches tall. He painted it over another painting that he
had already started to paint.
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Gainsborough was born in England and began drawing
when he was very young. He started taking lessons at the age of 15.
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He liked to paint landscapes and portraits of people.
He painted many
pictures in his lifetime; more than 500 paintings.
About 200 of these were paintings of people. He became wealthy because
the rich people wanted him to paint pictures of their families.
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