Who painted Mr and Mrs Andrews?

• A. Renoir
• B. Gainsborough
• C. Dali
• D. Matisse

Answer: (B)

The key idea here is recognizing how a portrait can fuse a sitter with a landscape to convey social status. Mr and Mrs Andrews is a quintessential example of that approach, painted by Thomas Gainsborough, a leading English portraitist of the 18th century. Gainsborough is known for placing fashionable sitters in expansive, natural settings, blending portraiture with landscape to highlight wealth and landownership as part of the identity being presented.

This style contrasts with the other artists listed, who belong to different movements and time periods: Renoir’s work is associated with impressionist color and everyday scenes; Dali’s surreal imagery explores dreamlike, fantastical ideas; Matisse’s work advances modernist, bold color and form. None of them are defined by the same combination of refined portraiture and integrated landscape that characterizes Gainsborough’s treatment of Mr and Mrs Andrews.

So, the painter of Mr and Mrs Andrews is Gainsborough.