Criticized by some of his contemporaries for his "emotional" approach to painting, Thomas Gainsborough (1727-88) nevertheless found favor with the public, and he is now recognized as one of Britain's greatest portrait and landscape painters. In the nearly 200 color reproductions here, Gainsborough demonstrates a flair for society portraiture in such masterworks as The Blue Boy, Mr. and Mrs. Andrews, and Johann Christian Bach. Impressively, Gainsborough just as ably captures the essence of life in the English countryside in such paintings and sketches as Cottage Door, Shepherd Boy Listening to a Magpie, and Wooded Landscape with Herdsman and Cattle. Boasting outstanding color reproductions on nearly every page, this affordable art book is quite compact (measuring just under 7½ inches square), yet offers a surprisingly wide-ranging survey of Gainsborough's work, with an introductory essay, titles, and captions in six languages.