Sudbury’s Gainsborough House to host Royal Academy portraits

Chantal Joffe A self-portrait by Chantal Joffe looking towards the viewer, wearing a pink top striped with red, with shoulder length brown hair and her daughter Esme on her lap, wearing a top in dark green crossed with mustard yellow, painted in 2016 — Chantal Joffe’s self-portrait with her daughter Esme called Looking Towards Bexhill is set on the beach at St Leonard’s-on-Sea, Sussex

A collection of self-portraits by “major stars of contemporary art” are to go on display at a museum dedicated to Thomas Gainsborough.

The 18th Century artist was born in Sudbury, Suffolk, and his childhood home reopened after a £10m redevelopment in 2022, with a gallery extension.

The exhibition is a “remarkably generous collaboration” between the Royal Academy of Arts in London and Gainsborough’s House, said the museum’s executive director Calvin Winner.

Gainsborough was a founding member of the academy and the self-portraits were created by current and recent Royal Academicians.

Most of the self-portraits will be contemporary, but also included will be one by Thomas Gainsborough which he did not complete before he died in 1787

Royal Academy of Arts A self-portrait of artist Thomas Gainsborough in oils, wearing a greenish coat, with a white cravat called a stock wrapped round his neck, looking towards the viewer — Most of the self-portraits will be contemporary, but also included will be one by Thomas Gainsborough which he did not complete before he died in 1787

Another early Royal Academicians who embraced self-portraiture included Matthew Hone, who painted this version in 1768

Royal Academy of Arts A self-portrait by 18th Century artist Nathanial Hone showing him in a black broad brimmed hat, wearing a lace collar over a black jacket with a purple cape on one shoulder looking towards the viewer — Another early Royal Academicians who embraced self-portraiture included Matthew Hone, who painted this version in 1768

The 1991 self-portrait by Patrick Procktor, who died in 2003, shows him holding a paintbrush aloft and appearing to think about where to place his next brushstroke.

Mr Winner said: “Artist portraits and more specifically self-portraits always fascinate me, revealing or masking their identity.”

Image of the Artist: Portraits from the Royal Academy opens at Gainsborough’s House on 16 November