Gainsborough Dupont

Dupont has been speculated to be the subject of "The Blue Boy" by Thomas Gainsborough. Gainsborough Dupont (20 December 1754 – 20 January 1797) was a British artist, the nephew and pupil of Thomas Gainsborough, R.A.

Biography

Dupont was born in Sudbury, Suffolk, on 20 December 1754 the eldest son of Thomas Gainsborough's sister Sarah, and her husband Philip Dupont. In 1772 he was apprenticed to Gainsborough, for whom he continued to work until the latter's death in 1788. He was the only assistant Gainsborough is ever known to have employed. He also trained at the Royal Academy Schools, where he became a student in March 1775.

Prints From 1779 onwards, Dupont made a series of mezzotints after Gainsborough's portraits.

Works