Description
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.
Provenance
George Pitt, First Lord Rivers [1721-1803], Stratfield Saye House, Hampshire, by descent to his grandson, William Horace Pitt-Rivers, 3rd Lord Rivers (1769-1803); William Horace Pitt-Rivers, 3rd Lord Rivers [1777-1831], Rushmore, Dorset, by descent to Horace, 6th Lord Rivers (1803-1831); Horace, 6th Lord Rivers [1814-1880], by descent to his cousin, Augustus Henry Lane Fox Pitt (1831-1880); Augustus Henry Lane Fox Pitt [1827-1900], by descent to his grandson George Henry Lane-Fox-Pitt-Rivers (1880-1900); George Henry Lane-Fox-Pitt-Rivers [1890-1966], Hinton St. Mary, Dorset, passed to his common-law wife Stella (1900-1966); Stella Pitt-Rivers, sold to E.V. Thaw (1966-1970); (E. V. Thaw, New York, sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art) (1970-1971); The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (1971-)
Accession Number
1971.2
Medium
oil on canvas
Dimensions
Framed: 261 x 181 x 9 cm (102 3/4 x 71 1/4 x 3 9/16 in.); Unframed: 234.3 x 154.3 cm (92 1/4 x 60 3/4 in.)
Classification
Painting
Credit Line
Gift of the John Huntington Art and Polytechnic Trust
