日落：拖车的马在溪边饮水

Gainsborough was one of the most celebrated 18th-century society portrait painters but he also painted landscapes. This is one of several pictures on the theme of peasants travelling to or from market. These articulate a sense of nostalgia for the old ways of country life, where independent family units were able to support themselves by working the land. Here, a family is shown in a moment of rest after the labours of the day. The painting’s rich colours and swelling forms evoke the example of the 17th-century painter Rubens, giving the scene a feeling of peaceful grandeur.