Thomas Gainsborough (English, 1727-88)

The Linley Sisters Oil on canvas (199 x 153.1cm) Painted in Bath, 1771-2

The Linleys were friends of Gainsborough's and a well-known musical family living in Bath. Elizabeth (seen here standing) later married the playwright, Richard Brinsley Sheridan; both she and Mary (seated) were professional singers. But this painting is more about their characters than their careers. They have sought out this secluded woody bank because of their instinctive love of wild places. This demonstrates their fine feelings as does their love for each other. The word for this was 'sensibility'. Though wearing silk gowns of the latest fashion, the sisters seems to blend with their woodland setting. Gainsborough echoes the colours of the landscape and even its rough texture in the painting of the costumes. It is Gainsborough's handling which lends the image its remarkable organic unity. He was famous for using long-handled brushes and for working up every part of the painting together. The brush-strokes are long, loose and capricious, more like the free shading of a rapid pen sketch than a finished painting.