Thomas Gainsborough (christened 14 May 1727 - 2 August 1788) was one of the most famous portrait and landscape painters of 18th century Britain. The Blue Boy is one of his most famous works.

About Thomas Gainsborough: The English Artist, Thomas Gainsborough was born in Sudbury, Suffolk, England. At the age of thirteen he impressed his father with his pencilling skills so that he let him go to London to study art in 1740. In London he first trained under engraver Hubert Gravelot but eventually became associated with William Hogarth and his school. One of his mentors was Francis Hayman. In those years he contributed to the decoration of what is now the Thomas Coram Foundation for Children and the supper boxes at Vauxhall Gardens.Thomas Gainsborough painted more from his observations of nature (and human nature) than from any application of formal academic rules. The poetic sensibility of Thomas Gainsborough paintings caused Constable to say, "On looking at them, we find tears in our eyes and know not what brings them."