![]() ![]() To mark Blue Boy’s reunion with the institution, below follows a dive into the painting’s journey. Where blue boy brandishes an extravagant plumed hat, Wiley’s subject holds a simple black cap.Īt the National Gallery, Blue Boy is paired with works by Anthony Van Dyck, whose preference for grand, full-length portraiture was an immense influence on the British painter. Last year at the Huntington, Kehinde Wiley debuted his homage to Blue Boy, featuring a Black teenager amid a brilliant botanical background. The child’s likeness has been endlessly emulated characters from Shirley Temple to the eponymous avenger of Django Unchained have been costumed in looks inspired by the shimmering suit. Thomas Gainsborough's 'Blue Boy' Visits London, Vito Schnabel Buys His Chelsea Gallery Space, and More: Morning Links for January 27, 2022 When it went on display at the National Gallery for three weeks following the sale, the press called it “the world’s most beautiful picture.” The painting has even been cited by artist Robert Rauschenberg as a major influence on his practice. Its prominence in art history is hardly overstated: it was the most expense painting in the world when it sold to American railroad magnate Henry Huntington in 1921, who soon had it shipped to his Southern California estate. Scaled to life-size, the boy is positioned like a monarch and painted with a palette that glows. The famed 1770 portrait of an English child in a resplendent blue satin doublet and breeches has long been the star attraction of the Huntington Library, Art Museum, and Botanical Gardens in San Marino, California. “It has never been lent since its departure from the U.K.-until now,” the institution said in a statement, adding that the portrait, “is unlikely to ever be lent again.” A hundred years since it was last displayed in the United Kingdom, Thomas Gainsborough’s Blue Boy has returned to the National Gallery in London. ![]()
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