DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.68073#0408
382
OLD WORLD MASTERS
Royal Academy in 1770, sent there by Gainsborough himself,—a
theory supported by a letter written by Mary Moser, R. A. to Fuseli,
then in Rome, in which she said: “ It is only telling you what you know
already of the Exhibition of 1770, to say that Gainsborough is beyond
himself in a Vandyke habit.” Another argument in favor of this date
is found in a conversation with an old artist, John Taylor, recorded
by J. T. Smith in his Book for a Rainy Day.
The person, chiefly, if not wholly, responsible for the first suggestion
of the theory that Gainsborough painted the picture to disprove Sir
Joshua Reynolds’s pronouncement regarding color seems to have
been John Burnet, the engraver of some of Wilkie’s pictures and a
writer on art. The legend began to be circulated in 1817, when
Burnet published his Practical Treatise on Painting, where, after
challenging the rules laid down by Sir Joshua, he says: “I believe
Gainsborough painted the portrait of a boy dressed in blue, now in
the possession of Lord Grosvenor, to show the fallacy of this doc-
trine.”
That seems to be all there is to it; and, once started, the story be-
came widespread and was handed on from pen to pen and from lip to
lip, until nearly everybody believes it.
Let us turn, however, to some of the authorities. First to F. G.
Stephens:
“Master Jonathan Buttall was the son of Mr. Jonathan Buttall,
an ironmonger in an extensive way of business, living at 31 Greek
Street (at the corner of King Street), Soho, between 1728 (if not be-
fore) and 1768, when he died. According to the Book for a Rainy Day,
he was ‘an immensely rich man.’ The younger Buttall continued in
the business of his father until 1796, when his effects were sold by
Sharpe and Coxe, the well-known auctioneers. These effects included
premises in Soho and the City, a share in Drury Lane Theatre, many
drawings by Gainsborough, and pictures by the same hand and
others, wine, and musical instruments. It has been asserted that a
Blue Boy (for there can hardly be a doubt that more than one version
of the work exists) was sold on this occasion.
“A story has been credited that The Blue Boy was produced by
OLD WORLD MASTERS
Royal Academy in 1770, sent there by Gainsborough himself,—a
theory supported by a letter written by Mary Moser, R. A. to Fuseli,
then in Rome, in which she said: “ It is only telling you what you know
already of the Exhibition of 1770, to say that Gainsborough is beyond
himself in a Vandyke habit.” Another argument in favor of this date
is found in a conversation with an old artist, John Taylor, recorded
by J. T. Smith in his Book for a Rainy Day.
The person, chiefly, if not wholly, responsible for the first suggestion
of the theory that Gainsborough painted the picture to disprove Sir
Joshua Reynolds’s pronouncement regarding color seems to have
been John Burnet, the engraver of some of Wilkie’s pictures and a
writer on art. The legend began to be circulated in 1817, when
Burnet published his Practical Treatise on Painting, where, after
challenging the rules laid down by Sir Joshua, he says: “I believe
Gainsborough painted the portrait of a boy dressed in blue, now in
the possession of Lord Grosvenor, to show the fallacy of this doc-
trine.”
That seems to be all there is to it; and, once started, the story be-
came widespread and was handed on from pen to pen and from lip to
lip, until nearly everybody believes it.
Let us turn, however, to some of the authorities. First to F. G.
Stephens:
“Master Jonathan Buttall was the son of Mr. Jonathan Buttall,
an ironmonger in an extensive way of business, living at 31 Greek
Street (at the corner of King Street), Soho, between 1728 (if not be-
fore) and 1768, when he died. According to the Book for a Rainy Day,
he was ‘an immensely rich man.’ The younger Buttall continued in
the business of his father until 1796, when his effects were sold by
Sharpe and Coxe, the well-known auctioneers. These effects included
premises in Soho and the City, a share in Drury Lane Theatre, many
drawings by Gainsborough, and pictures by the same hand and
others, wine, and musical instruments. It has been asserted that a
Blue Boy (for there can hardly be a doubt that more than one version
of the work exists) was sold on this occasion.
“A story has been credited that The Blue Boy was produced by