Gainsborough’s Blue Boy to return to UK after 100 years

It was announced on Wednesday that the artwork would come home 100 years to the day since it was last seen in the UK.

Gabriele Finaldi, the director of the National Gallery, said the 2022 loan was “a unique opportunity for visitors to see Gainsborough at his dazzling best”.

After it was bought by Huntington, The Blue Boy went on display at the National Gallery as part of a farewell tour.

Before Huntington was revealed as the buyer, the Manchester Guardian expressed hope that The Blue Boy would find its way to France because, while British galleries were full of French art, “there is very little sign of any interest in France in English art”.

Its frequent appearances in popular culture include Tim Burton’s 1989 film Batman, hanging on the walls of Gotham museum when it was taken over by Jack Nicholson’s Joker.

The painting first appeared in public at the Royal Academy in 1770, the year it was painted, when it was titled A Portrait of a Young Gentleman.

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