Mark Bills - Explores Gainsborough: Murder and a Small Fortune

Gainsborough: Murder and a Small Fortune

Behind the celebrated paintings of Thomas Gainsborough lies an early life filled with unanswered questions. Born into a Sudbury weaving family, how did a boy whose father faced bankruptcy become one of the greatest painters of his age?

In this lecture, Mark Bills explores Gainsborough’s beginnings and the circumstances surrounding his development as an artist. Drawing on a recently discovered family story, he reveals the murders that shook the Gainsborough family and the events that culminated in the young artist’s move to London.

The lecture offers a chance to look beyond Gainsborough’s reputation and consider the personal history behind his artistic career. Family upheaval and the move from Suffolk to London provide the setting for a closer examination of his formative years.

Whether you already admire Gainsborough’s work or are discovering his story for the first time, join us for an intriguing introduction to the less familiar beginnings of a celebrated British painter.

Lecturer: Mark Bills MBE

Mark Bills is an art historian and curator who was previously Director of Gainsborough’s House, Curator of Watts Gallery and Senior Curator of Paintings, Prints and Drawings at the Museum of London. He has led major art gallery capital projects and was awarded an MBE in 2025 for this work.

He has written extensively on eighteenth- and nineteenth-century British art. His publications include William Powell Frith: Painting the Victorian Age, written with Vivien Knight in 2006, G. F. Watts: Victorian Visionary in 2008 and Early Gainsborough in 2018, alongside numerous articles.

Mark is Chair of the Cedric Morris Foundation and continues to research and write about British art. He is an internationally regarded expert on several Victorian artists, including William Powell Frith.

Date: Tuesday 19th January 2027
Time: 2.30pm - Please arrive a little earlier to be seated.
Venue: Firstsite, Lewis Gardens, High Street, Colchester, Essex, CO1 1JH. 

Guest tickets will be available to book in the New Year