Cottage Children (The Wood Gatherers)1787
Poor children gather firewood in a forest at dusk, their faces lit warmly against the dark trees. More about this work
About this work
Poor children gather firewood in a forest at dusk, their faces lit warmly against the dark trees. In his last years Gainsborough painted a number of these ‘fancy pictures’, sentimental scenes of country children that appealed to fashionable London collectors. Painted in 1787, the year before his death, the canvas shows his late style at its most fluid, with feathery, almost transparent brushwork in the foliage.
Written by Ochre Editions.
How it was made
- Oil paint
- Pigment ground in a drying oil, usually linseed. It dries slowly, so painters could blend on the canvas, build up thin translucent glazes, and rework a picture over weeks. Canvas replaced wooden panels in the 1500s because it is lighter and can be rolled.
Thomas Gainsborough
English, 1727–1788 · Born in Sudbury; died in London.
Gainsborough trained in London with the French engraver Hubert Gravelot, then built his career as a portraitist first in Suffolk and later in fashionable Bath before moving to London in 1774. He was a founder member of the Royal Academy and a favourite painter of George III’s family. Although portraits paid his way, his own preference was landscape, and late works such as Cottage Children (The Wood Gatherers) bring the two together in his fluent, feathery brushwork.
Written by Ochre Editions.
Rights and the museum’s record
Public domain. The Met has dedicated this image to the public domain under CC0, so anyone may copy, adapt and use it, for any purpose, without asking. Our prints and files are reproductions made from the museum’s image; the museum doesn’t endorse them.
- Object number
- 50.145.17
- Credit
- Courtesy of The Metropolitan Museum of Art
- Type
- Paintings
- Department
- European Paintings
- Licence
- CC0 1.0 Universal
- Museum record
- See it on the museum’s site
