Paintings in the Collection of Henry Clay Frick, 1925 [page 159]

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THOMAS GAINSBOROUGH, R.A. (1727-1788) "THE MALL ON ST. JAMES PARK"

  Canvas, 573/4 inches by  47 1/2 inches

THE scene is central Avenue of the Mall, behind Carlton House, London- a fashionable promenade under the trees, with groups of small figures, the central one consisting of several of the royal princesses. Painted about 1786. Catalogued: "Gainsborough ", by Armstrong, p.206, and

                         mentioned there on pp. 42, 126, 135, 158, 168, 
                         171, 182, 183, 185.

Reproduced: "Gainsborough," by Armstrong, facing p 140

           "             "Gainsborough, "  by Chamberlain,  p. 47
           "             "The Masterpieces of Gainsborough, "  p. 52

Mentioned: "Gainsborough, " by Chamberlain, pp. 21, 44,

                       120, 144, 202.
          "             "Gainsborough, "  by Grieg, pp. 35, 142, 162,
                          164.

Collections: George Frost, an artist and fellow-townsman

                        of Gainsborough 
         "              Sir Audley Dallas Neeld, Bart., Grittleton 
                         House, near Chippenham, Wilts.

"That Gainsborough retained his full powers until the last is proved by such a picture as "The Mall, St. James's Park,' painted in 1786. This is a superb tour de force of painting. It recalls...Watters in his most graceful mood more than any other picture from Gainsborough's brush. There is an elegance about the composition, a delicacy in the coloring, and a freedom, lacking nothing of truth, in the handling, which combine to make it one the masterpieces of English art,"- Quated from Chamberlain's "Gainsborough, ". The Gentleman's Magazine wrote, in Gainsborough's time: "In a view of company in St. James's Park, he assumed the manner of Watteau, and produced a picture in many respects superior to any Watteau ever painted."

                                  159

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