National Gallery Acquires Three Eighteenth Century Pictures
May 20 2020
Picture: The National Gallery, London
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
The National Gallery have announced the recent acquisition of three outstanding eighteenth century pictures. This includes Jean-Etienne Liotard’s 'The Lavergne Family Breakfast'; Thomas Gainsborough’s 'Portrait of Margaret Gainsborough holding a Theorbo' and Sir Thomas Lawrence’s 'Portrait of the Hon. Peniston Lamb'. All three pictures have come from the estate of the art collector George Pinto (1929-2018) under the Acceptance in Lieu scheme.
On a personal note, I'm thrilled about the acquisition of the Gainsborough painting. The picture had been rediscovered in a private collection after an appeal from the NPG in preparation for their exhibition in 2018. I had written a blog at the time giving the background of Gainsborough's connections with the lute, including the fact that he pressurised the German lutenist Rudolf Straube to sell his instrument to him. Could the instrument that Margaret is playing be Straube's lute?
