In the style of Thomas Gainsborough

PORTRAIT OF A LADY, 1773

Duchess of Cumberland

The original of this painting is in the Lady Lever Art Gallery in Port Sunlight.

They were making a television programme where one painting was removed from the gallery wall and replaced with a copy.  There were prizes at the end of the process if you correctly identified the intruder!  I did a preliminary painting just to get the feel of the original and months later after the whole thing was over I modernised the face a little just for the fun of it.

I don’t know where my replacement work is now!  Probably in the cellars of the gallery.  Only 20% of visitors correctly spotted it as NOT being by Gainsborough which is a good thing and also not such a good thing.  Giles Coren fronted the whole programme and he was a joy to work with.  Very professional and good fun.

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