How did Jan Wynants influence Thomas Gainsborough’s early landscapes?

Thomas Gainsborough’s early landscapes were significantly shaped by the 17th-century Dutch tradition, which was gaining popularity among English collectors by 1740. Specifically, Gainsborough looked to Jan Wynants to learn the foundational language of landscape painting.1

The influence of Wynants is most evident in Gainsborough’s earliest works, where he directly adopted specific compositional details from the Dutch master. A clear example of this is found in his 1745 painting, Bumper—A Bull Terrier, which features a landscape background incorporating many elements taken straight from Wynants’s style. While Gainsborough later moved toward the influence of Jacob van Ruisdael by 1748, his initial approach to the genre was firmly rooted in the techniques he studied from Wynants's work.1