Real couples in art: six portraits of husbands and wives

A honeymoon walk, a painter and his wife on a Danish beach, a picnic by a red canoe. Six real marriages in paint, and what happened next.

A young couple walking arm in arm through a wooded landscape, the woman in a silvery gown and wide hat with a white Pomeranian dog at her side, the man in a black suit; painted by Thomas Gainsborough.

Most lovers in paintings are characters from books. These are not. Each of these six pictures shows a real married couple, painted from life: newlyweds on a morning walk, a painter and his wife on a summer evening, an old couple on their garden bench. They are double portraits, and they are also, quietly, the truest love stories in the collection.

1. The Morning Walk (Mr and Mrs William Hallett)

Thomas Gainsborough — The Morning Walk (Mr and Mrs William Hallett), 1785. National Gallery, London. Complete composition.

William Hallett and Elizabeth Stephen were both twenty-one and about to marry when Thomas Gainsborough painted them in 1785, walking arm in arm through a feathery wood with their white Pomeranian at her side. Her hat and gown are painted with flickering, silvery strokes; his black suit is the only dark note. It is the definitive wedding portrait.

Silver, grey and green, tall and elegant: the classic choice for a wedding or anniversary.

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2. On the Sailing Boat

A man in a dark coat and a woman in a red dress seen from behind, sitting hand in hand at the prow of a sailing boat, a distant city of spires ahead across pale water; painted by Caspar David Friedrich.

Caspar David Friedrich — On the Sailing Boat, 1818. Hermitage, St Petersburg. Complete composition.

Caspar David Friedrich married Caroline Bommer in 1818 and took her to the island of Rügen, the journey this picture is thought to recall. In it we stand with them on the deck, behind the two figures sitting at the prow holding hands, as a city of Gothic spires rises ahead. We never see their faces, only where they are going.

Quiet, luminous and symbolic: a perfect gift for newlyweds.

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3. Summer Evening on Skagen's Beach: the Artist and his Wife

A woman in a white dress and a man in a pale suit and straw hat walking arm in arm along a beach at dusk, the moon reflected in the calm blue sea, a dog beside them; painted by Peder Severin Krøyer.

Peder Severin Krøyer — Summer Evening on Skagen's Beach: the Artist and his Wife, 1899. Hirschsprung Collection, Copenhagen. Complete composition.

Peder Severin Krøyer paints himself and his wife Marie walking along the beach at Skagen on a blue summer evening, the moon rising over a still sea, their dog beside them. She wears white, he wears a straw hat. It is one of the most beloved Danish paintings; the marriage itself ended a few years later.

The blue hour of the north, cool and luminous: a picture to live with.

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4. An Out-of-Doors Study (Paul Helleu and his Wife)

A man in a straw hat sketching in the long grass beside a red canoe while a woman in a white dress and straw hat lies beside him; painted by John Singer Sargent.

John Singer Sargent — An Out-of-Doors Study (Paul Helleu and his Wife), 1889. Brooklyn Museum. Complete composition.

John Singer Sargent painted his friend the artist Paul Helleu sketching in the long grass by a red canoe, with his wife Alice lying beside him in a straw hat. It was 1889, the couple were young, and Sargent's brush catches the heat and the light of the afternoon.

Loose, sunny and modern, with that flash of red canoe: a summer picture for any room.

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5. Double Portrait of Laurits and Frederikke Tuxen

An elderly man with a white beard and a woman in a black dress with a lace collar sitting side by side on a white garden bench, trees and a timbered house behind; painted by Julius Paulsen.

Julius Paulsen — Double Portrait of Laurits and Frederikke Tuxen, 1907. Skagens Museum. Complete composition.

Julius Paulsen painted his fellow painter Laurits Tuxen and his wife Frederikke side by side on a white garden bench in 1907, he with a white beard and she in black silk with a lace collar, hands resting close together. It is a portrait of a marriage in its later years: calm, settled, side by side.

Dignified and warm: a lovely picture for a long marriage or a golden anniversary.

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6. Monsieur and Madame Bernheim de Villers

A man with a dark moustache sitting just behind his wife, who wears a feathered hat, pearls and a blue patterned gown, in a red interior; painted by Pierre-Auguste Renoir.

Pierre-Auguste Renoir — Monsieur and Madame Bernheim de Villers, 1910. Musée d'Orsay, Paris. Complete composition.

Renoir painted the art dealer Gaston Bernheim de Villers and his wife Suzanne in 1910, seated close together in an upholstered chair, she in a feathered hat and a blue gown, he with his moustache and dark suit just behind her shoulder. Renoir was by then nearly seventy and painting in warm, glowing colour.

Warm reds and blues in Renoir's late style: a joyful double portrait.

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These are the paintings that Fable's own couple portraits descend from: two real people, side by side, painted so that they would be remembered together. Each has a portrait style made from it, so you can be painted the same way.

Walk through the Love Stories room · The Love Stories collection