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Thomas Gainsborough (British, 1727-88)
Ralph Bell, about 1772-74
Oil on canvas, 92 1/4 x 61 1/8 in. (234.3 x 155.3 cm.)
Purchased with funds from the State of North Carolina and the North Carolina Art Society (Robert F. Phifer Bequest), 52.9.70
Ralph Bell (1720-1801) sat for Gainsborough while visiting the artist's studio in Bath in 1772. The portrait was destined for the great dining hall of Bell's newly remodeled mansion, Thirsk Hall. Gainsborough subsequently painted a portrait of Bell's wife, Ann Conyers, for the same room. The composition and style of the portrait are strongly influenced by Anthony van Dyck's aristocratic portraits, such as the Lady Mary Villiers in this gallery. Gainsborough's treatment, however, is more informal and natural than Van Dyck's; he places Bell in the landscape, momentarily pausing for a dip of snuff while on a country walk, rather than against a landscape background, as was Van Dyck's custom.
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