Companion piece to Gainsborough's Blue Boy

John · January 30th, 2006, 02:29 AM

The Blue Boy (Jonathan Buttall) is one of the most famous paintings in the world.

I was checking the Artcyclopedia museum list for completeness today and stumbled upon Waddesdon Manor, in Buckinghamshire, UK.

They have a painting there known as The Pink Boy (Master Nichols). Not only is it quite beautiful in its own right, it's also extremely similar in style and composition to The Blue Boy. I haven't been able to find out much about it online, but in addition to the obvious similarities, Gainsborough apparently had both boys dress in historical dress, rather than in contemporary clothes.

Anyway I thought it might be of interest to some people. It's amazing how many great works are tucked away in odd corners of the world.

The Pink Boy:

The Blue Boy:

January 31st, 2006, 12:59 AM

This Article Is Quite Interesting .

John · January 31st, 2006, 02:28 AM

I don't think it's as remarkable a painting as The Blue Boy, but I suspect that one of the things working against it is the name. There is a tradition in Western society (maybe just in English speaking countries?) that blue signifies boys and pink signifies girls. Thus "The Pink Boy" sounds kind of comical, especially when contrasted with "The Blue Boy".

It sounds silly, but the whole thing about pink being unmasculine runs very deep. I can't really imagine anyone from Britain or North America not immediately making that mental association.

Interestingly, one of the sites with information on this painting mentioned that experts had specifically researched to see whether this pink-blue custom existed in Gainsborough's day, and found that it probably did not.

January 8th, 2007, 06:36 PM

This is unbelivable! I have been researching Blue Boy and found that the Pink Girl doesn't seem to be the matching piece. To find another boy, in pink, is more mystifying. I have to know more now. How much more will we find?
Doesn't this just intrigue you to death?!

January 9th, 2007, 01:24 PM

Greetings ArtConversation Members,

Gainsborough's Pink Boy is one of the works presented in the e-Learning resource - Portraits and Portraiture from the Museum Network UK.
http://www.museumnetworkuk.org/portraits/index.html

Using five museum collections, teachers and pupils can find out more about the fascinating subject of portraiture, including how portraits were created, how to strike a commanding pose, how to tell someone’s status from their dress and the formal elements that go into making someone’s likeness.

This resource compares portraits in the following five museum collections:

The Bowes Museum in Barnard Castle, County Durham
Compton Verney in Warwickshire
The Holburne Museum of Art in Bath
Waddesdon Manor in Buckinghamshire
The Wallace Collection in Central London

Here is the page for Pink Boy:
http://www.museumnetworkuk.org/portr...sdon/img5.html

Enjoy this resource.

Judy Decker

January 30th, 2006, 02:29 AM	#1
John John Malyon, host Join Date: Dec 2005 Posts: 156	Companion piece to Gainsborough's Blue Boy The Blue Boy (Jonathan Buttall) is one of the most famous paintings in the world. I was checking the Artcyclopedia museum list for completeness today and stumbled upon Waddesdon Manor, in Buckinghamshire, UK. They have a painting there known as The Pink Boy (Master Nichols). Not only is it quite beautiful in its own right, it's also extremely similar in style and composition to The Blue Boy. I haven't been able to find out much about it online, but in addition to the obvious similarities, Gainsborough apparently had both boys dress in historical dress, rather than in contemporary clothes. Anyway I thought it might be of interest to some people. It's amazing how many great works are tucked away in odd corners of the world. The Pink Boy: The Blue Boy:

January 8th, 2007, 06:36 PM	#4
Shan Posts: n/a	Blue Boy This is unbelivable! I have been researching Blue Boy and found that the Pink Girl doesn't seem to be the matching piece. To find another boy, in pink, is more mystifying. I have to know more now. How much more will we find? Doesn't this just intrigue you to death?!

January 9th, 2007, 01:24 PM	#5
Unregistered Posts: n/a	Gainsborough's Pink Boy Greetings ArtConversation Members, Gainsborough's Pink Boy is one of the works presented in the e-Learning resource - Portraits and Portraiture from the Museum Network UK. http://www.museumnetworkuk.org/portraits/index.html Using five museum collections, teachers and pupils can find out more about the fascinating subject of portraiture, including how portraits were created, how to strike a commanding pose, how to tell someone’s status from their dress and the formal elements that go into making someone’s likeness. This resource compares portraits in the following five museum collections: The Bowes Museum in Barnard Castle, County Durham Compton Verney in Warwickshire The Holburne Museum of Art in Bath Waddesdon Manor in Buckinghamshire The Wallace Collection in Central London Here is the page for Pink Boy: http://www.museumnetworkuk.org/portr...sdon/img5.html Enjoy this resource. Judy Decker

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January 31st, 2006, 12:59 AM	#2
Unregistered Posts: n/a	This Article Is Quite Interesting .

January 31st, 2006, 02:28 AM	#3
John John Malyon, host Join Date: Dec 2005 Posts: 156	I don't think it's as remarkable a painting as The Blue Boy, but I suspect that one of the things working against it is the name. There is a tradition in Western society (maybe just in English speaking countries?) that blue signifies boys and pink signifies girls. Thus "The Pink Boy" sounds kind of comical, especially when contrasted with "The Blue Boy". It sounds silly, but the whole thing about pink being unmasculine runs very deep. I can't really imagine anyone from Britain or North America not immediately making that mental association. Interestingly, one of the sites with information on this painting mentioned that experts had specifically researched to see whether this pink-blue custom existed in Gainsborough's day, and found that it probably did not.