CINCINNATI ART MUSEUM TO PRESENT THOMAS GAINSBOROUGH AND THE MODERN WOMAN

THE PORTRAITS OF THOMAS GAINSBOROUGH MADE HIM PERHAPS THE MOST FAMOUS BRITISH ARTIST OF THE LATE 18th CENTURY. NOBLES, STATESMEN, MUSICIANS AND THE RANGE OF MEN AND WOMEN OF THE PERIOD'S MERCHANT CLASS ALL SAT FOR HIM. BUT IT IS HIS PORTRAITS OF NOTORIOUS SOCIETY WOMEN, WIDELY CONSIDERED AMONG THE GREATEST OF THE WESTERN TRADITION, WHICH ATTRACTED THE MOST ATTENTION. 18th CENTURY VIEWERS APPRECIATED THE STUNNING PAINTINGS DIFFERENTLY THAN WE DO TODAY. IN HIS OWN TIME, GAINSBOROUGH'S PORTRAITS OF ACTRESS, PERFORMERS AND COURTESANS WERE SEEN AS UNCONVENTIONAL, IF NOT RADICAL, NOT ONLY BECAUSE OF THE TYPE OF WOMAN THEY PORTRAYED BUT ALSO BECAUSE OF THE UNCONVENTIONAL WAY THEY WERE PAINTED. ORGANIZED BY THE CINCINNATI ART MUSEUM IN ASSOCIATION WITH THE SAN DIEGO MUSEUM OF ART, 'THOMAS GAINSBOROUGH AND THE MODERN WOMAN' IS THE FIRST EXHIBITION DEVOTED TO THOMAS GAINSBOROUGH'S FEMININE PORTRAITURE, AND THE FIRST TO FOCUS SPECIFICALLY ON MODERNITY AND FEMININITY IN GEORGIAN ENGLAND FROM THE PERSPECTIVE OF GAINSBOROUGH'S GROUNDBREAKING PORTRAITS OF WOMEN. COINCIDING WITH THE COMPREHENSIVE CLEANING AND RESTORATION OF THE CINCINNATI ART MUSEUM'S ICONIC GAINSBOROUGH PORTRAIT ANN FORD (MRS THICKNESSE), THE EXHIBITION UNITES A CHOICE SELECTION OF THIRTEEN PAINTINGS FROM THE RENOWNED MUSEUM COLLECTIONS IN THE UNITED STATES AND BRITAIN TO ILLUMINATE THE ROLE OF GAINSBOROUGH'S EXTRAORDINARY PORTRAITURE PLAYED IN DEFINING NEW, PROGRESSIVE FEMININE IDENTITIES. THE EXHIBITION WILL BE ON VIEW 18.SEPTEMBER THROUGH 2.JANUARY.2011. THE EXHIBITION WILL ALSO FEATURE A SMALL SELECTION OF PERIOD DRESS FROM CINCINNATI ART MUSEUM'S RICH FASHION ARTS AND TEXTILE COLLECTION, THEREBY FURTHER CONTEXTUALIZING GAINSBOROUGH'S PORTRAITS WHILE AFFORDING VISITORS A VIEW OF THE MATERIAL ACCESSORIES OF THE 'MODERN WOMAN'.