Thomas Gainsborough

"I am favoured with your obliging letter, and shall finish your picture in two or three days at farthest, and send to Colchester according to your order, with a frame. I thank you. Sir, for your kind i…"

"Do you consider, my dear maggotty sir , what a deal of work history pictures require to what little dirty subjects of coal horses and jackasses and such figures as I fill up with; no, you don't consid…"

"Dear Jackson, - ..First and most unfortunately, I have been four times after Bach, and have never laid eyes on him.. ..but surely I shall catch Bach soon to get you an answer to your letter.."

"And here I give it under my hand that I will most willingly begin upon a new canvas . But I only for the present beg your Lordship will give me leave to try an experiment upon that picture to prove th…"

"to Joshua Kirby, Esq. - to be left at the Turk's Head, Gerrard Street, St. Ann's, London - Mr. President and Gentlemen, Directors of the Society of Artists of Great Britain. I thank ye for the honor d…"

"Dear Sir Joshua, - I am just to write what I fear you will not read - after lying in a dying state for 6 months . The extreme affection which I am informed of by a Friend which Sir Joshua has expresd …"

"I wish you would recollect that Painting and Punctuality mix like Oil and Vinegar, and that Genius and regularity are utter Enemies."

"damn gentlemen, there is not such a set of enemies to a real artist in the world as they are, if not kept at a proper distance.. ..They think that they reward your merit by their Company and notice.. …"