Cleveland Museum of Art

Portrait of George Pitt, First Baron Rivers

Thomas GainsboroughLinkedCulture matchlcp-5fd7040ad1f9

Date: 1769
Medium: oil on canvas
Culture: England, 18th century
Department: European Painting and Sculpture
Institution: Cleveland Museum of Art
Object ID: 145999

From the Cleveland Museum of Art record

Although George Pitt reputedly led a life of debauchery and was a cruel husband, Thomas Gainsborough’s portrait endows him with an aura of dignity and refinement. This work was painted between Pitt’s appointments as ambassador to Turin, Italy, and Madrid, Spain, but he is very much the English gentleman at home on his country estate. Gainsborough balances the deep scarlet and green facing of Pitt’s military uniform with the cool, woodland landscape painted with wide, liquid brushstrokes of mauves, grays, and silvers. Gainsborough was famous for his portraits, but he especially loved painting landscapes.

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Provenance & credit

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Credit line: Gift of the John Huntington Art and Polytechnic Trust
Provenance: 1769-1803: George Pitt, First Lord Rivers [1721-1803], Stratfield Saye House, Hampshire, by descent to his grandson, William Horace Pitt-Rivers, 3rd Lord Rivers | 1803-1831: William Horace Pitt-Rivers, 3rd Lord Rivers [1777-1831], Rushmore, Dorset, by descent to Horace, 6th Lord Rivers | 1831-1880: Horace, 6th Lord Rivers [1814-1880], by descent to his cousin, Augustus Henry Lane Fox Pitt | 1880-1900: Augustus Henry Lane Fox Pitt [1827-1900], by descent to his grandson George Henry Lane-Fox-Pitt-Rivers | 1900-1966: George Henry Lane-Fox-Pitt-Rivers [1890-1966], Hinton St. Mary, Dorset, passed to his common-law wife Stella | 1966-1970: Stella Pitt-Rivers, sold to E.V. Thaw | 1970-1971: (E. V. Thaw, New York, sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art) | 1971-: The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH

Part of a LinkedCulture topic

English Portrait Miniatures
A collection of portrait miniatures from 17th-18th century England, predominantly featuring watercolor on ivory or graphite and wash techniques, representing the tradition of intimate personal portraiture in miniature fo
221 objects from 4 institutions