Amateur accidentally discovered on the Internet the very first picture of Gainsborough

Looking through local auction catalogs on the Internet, every art lover dreams of discovering a long-lost or unknown work of a great artist, hidden among thousands of old paintings, books and furniture. Few can boast of such luck. But sometimes a miracle happens, as it happened with Robert Mulraine (Robert Mulraine), who discovered the earliest known painting by British artist Thomas Gainsborough (Thomas Gainsborough).

Thomas Gainsborough - Portrait of an Unknown Woman (1742)

Helping his art historian son, Robert Mulrane looked at the site of the local antique market when his attention was drawn to a picture in which his son’s experienced eye recognized the work of the young Gainsborough. The painting has already been included in the updated catalog of Hugh Belsey, art historian and world authority on the work of Gainsborough. Experts believe that the portrait of an unknown woman was painted by Gainsborough as a teenager, around 1742, when the young artist was just honing his skills.

Father and son Mulrane purchased the painting at auction for £ 2,600, however, now its price will increase many times. Gainsborough’s current value record for £ 6.5 million. Robert Mulrane hopes that the picture will acquire one of the museums. In an interview with Telegraph, Robert Mulrane said he became interested in art thanks to his son, art historian and restorer, who had an internship at the Courtauld Institute and previously worked with Philip Mold, known for his talk show about discoveries in the field art on television.

“I learned a lot from him, and now I have his“ extra pair of eyes, ”said Robert Mulrane. “It’s incredibly interesting to find a lost or unknown work of art, so everything I see and find interesting is sent to him. At first, he thought that the painting belonged to Francis Hayman, but judging by how the light was shown in the painting and how much the varnish turned yellow, it was clear that this work was special. ”

Having bought a painting at a local auction, father and son Mulraine showed it to Hugh Belsi in London. The expert, who over the years of his career was accustomed to be skeptical of such unexpected finds, did not doubt for a minute that he had a Gainsborough script.

Anna Sidorova © Gallerix.ru