Public collection via the Cleveland Museum of Art
AT-00009213Portrait of George Pitt, First Baron Rivers
Also known as: George Pitt, First Lord Rivers
About the Artwork
Although George Pitt reputedly led a life of debauchery and was a cruel husband, Thomas Gainsborough’s portrait endows him with an aura of dignity and refinement. This work was painted between Pitt’s appointments as ambassador to Turin, Italy, and Madrid, Spain, but he is very much the English gentleman at home on his country estate. Gainsborough balances the deep scarlet and green facing of Pitt’s military uniform with the cool, woodland landscape painted with wide, liquid brushstrokes of mauves, grays, and silvers.
Provenance
1769-1803: George Pitt, First Lord Rivers [1721-1803], Stratfield Saye House, Hampshire, by descent to his grandson, William Horace Pitt-Rivers, 3rd Lord Rivers 1803-1831: William Horace Pitt-Rivers, 3rd Lord Rivers [1777-1831], Rushmore, Dorset, by descent to Horace, 6th Lord Rivers 1831-1880: Horace, 6th Lord Rivers [1814-1880], by descent to his cousin, Augustus Henry Lane Fox Pitt 1880-1900: Augustus Henry Lane Fox Pitt [1827-1900], by descent to his grandson George Henry Lane-Fox-Pitt-Rivers 1900-1966: George Henry Lane-Fox-Pitt-Rivers [1890-1966], Hinton St. Mary, Dorset, passed to his common-law wife Stella 1966-1970: Stella Pitt-Rivers, sold to E.V. Thaw 1970-1971: (E. V. Thaw, New York, sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art) 1971-: The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
Exhibition history
Year in Review: 1971. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (December 28, 1971-February 6, 1972). Vittorio Alfieri: Aristocratico Ribelle (1749-1803). Turin State Archives, Torino, Italy (October 8, 2003-January 12, 2004). CMA @ Oberlin (second rotation). Allen Memorial Art Museum, Oberlin, OH (April 3-June 5, 2006). British Gallery Reinstallation (June 2020). The Cleveland Museum of Art (organizer).
Data retrieved from the Cleveland Museum of Art on October 8, 2026. The museum may have updated its record since.
Quick Overview
- Artist
- Thomas Gainsborough (British, 1727–1788)
- Date
- 1769
- Medium
- oil on canvas
- Dimensions
- Framed: 261 x 181 x 9 cm (102 3/4 x 71 1/4 x 3 9/16 in.); Unframed: 234.3 x 154.3 cm (92 1/4 x 60 3/4 in.)
- Type
- Painting
- Classification
- Painting
- Department
- European Painting and Sculpture
- Credit line
- Gift of the John Huntington Art and Polytechnic Trust
- Accession no.
- 1971.2
More by Thomas Gainsborough in museum collections
Open-access museum record · AT-00009213
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