# Cottage Children (The Wood Gatherers)

**Thomas Gainsborough** (English, 1727–1788)  
1787  
Oil on canvas  
58 1/8 x 47 3/8 in. (147.6 x 120.3 cm)

Courtesy of The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 50.145.17. [The museum's record](https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/436440).

## 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._

Thomas Gainsborough painted this in 1787, aged 60. It is now at The Met in New York.

### 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](https://www.ochreeditions.com/artists/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._

## Facts

- Type: Paintings
- The artist was 60
- Real size: about 58 × 47 in (148 × 120 cm). The original is larger than our largest print, 24 × 36 in, so every print is a reduction.
- Century: 18th century
- Subjects: Children, Boys, Girls
- Colour: black
- Rights: public domain (CC0 1.0); free to use for any purpose.

## Get it

- Free download, full resolution: https://img.ochreeditions.com/m/1090.jpg?dl=1
- Image: https://img.ochreeditions.com/a/1090/1920.jpg
- Giclée reproduction on Hahnemühle Photo Rag: 8 × 10 in $28; 11 × 14 in $38; 12 × 16 in $42; 16 × 20 in $56; 18 × 24 in $68; 20 × 30 in $86; 24 × 36 in $108
- Framed reproduction: 8 × 10 in $78; 11 × 14 in $98; 12 × 16 in $108; 16 × 20 in $138; 18 × 24 in $164; 20 × 30 in $208; 24 × 36 in $258
- Canvas reproduction: 8 × 10 in $58; 11 × 14 in $72; 12 × 16 in $79; 16 × 20 in $98; 18 × 24 in $118; 20 × 30 in $148
- Print-ready file: 8 × 10 in $2; 11 × 14 in $2; 12 × 16 in $3; 16 × 20 in $3; 18 × 24 in $3; 20 × 30 in $5; 24 × 36 in $5

Sizes stop where the museum's file would print below 150 pixels per inch. Everything sold is a reproduction, made to order. [Order a print](https://www.ochreeditions.com/art/cottage-children-the-wood-gatherers-met-436440).