How you can use this image
This image can be used for non-commercial research or private study purposes, and other UK exceptions to copyright permitted to users based in the United Kingdom under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, as amended and revised. Any other type of use will need to be cleared with the rights holder(s).
Review the copyright credit lines that are located underneath the image, as these indicate who manages the copyright (©) within the artwork, and the photographic rights within the image.
The collection that owns the artwork may have more information on their own website about permitted uses and image licensing options.
Review our guidance pages which explain how you can reuse images, how to credit an image and how to find images in the public domain or with a Creative Commons licence available.
Buy a print or image licence
You can purchase this reproduction
If you have any products in your basket we recommend that you complete your purchase from Art UK before you leave our site to avoid losing your purchases.
Notes
Add or edit a note on this artwork that only you can see. You can find notes again by going to the ‘Notes’ section of your account.
This portrait of Mary Countess Howe is one of Gainsborough’s most striking works. She stands confidently, with a hand-on-hip pose and direct gaze, set against a dark and unruly landscape. The painting was commissioned together with a full-length companion portrait of her husband Richard Howe, 1st Earl Howe, a successful British Naval officer and admiral. An appreciation of the pastoral and rural idyll was deemed highly fashionable amongst women in high society throughout the 18th century. Countess Howe owned substantial amounts of land in her own right, having inherited her father’s estates across north-east Leicestershire. Here, Gainsborough presents her as a socially ambitious land-owner, gracefully enjoying a stroll across her estates.
The portrait showcases Gainsborough’s incredible attention to detail, his distinctive and skilful feathery brushwork, along with his preference for setting his portraits against romantically wild landscapes.
English Heritage, Kenwood
London
Title
Mary, Countess Howe (1732–1800)
Date
c.1764
Medium
oil on canvas
Measurements
H 243.2 x W 154.3 cm
Accession number
88028783
Acquisition method
Iveagh Bequest, 1929
Work type
Painting
English Heritage, Kenwood
Hampstead Lane, London, Greater London NW3 7JR England
-
Portrait of an Unknown Associate of the Prince of Wales English Heritage, Kenwood -
Portrait of the Painter's Two Daughters Victoria and Albert Museum -
Wooded River Landscape with a Fisherman in a Rowing Boat, High Banks and Distant Mountains Victoria and Albert Museum -
Wooded Moonlight Landscape with a Pool and a Figure at the Door of a Cottage Victoria and Albert Museum -
Wooded Landscape with a Herdsman and Two Cows Victoria and Albert Museum -
Coastal Scene with Sailing and Rowing Boats and Figures on the Shore Victoria and Albert Museum -
Wooded Upland Landscape with a Shepherd, a Donkey and Scattered Sheep, a Lake and a Distant Village and Hills Victoria and Albert Museum - 459 more
