I love other Gainsborough paintings but 'The Blue Boy' is one I hate. Thinking about why I don't like it, I have to admit it's related to how during my childhood and teen years this painting was for sale as a print (mounted onto ply board and enshrouded in a gilded frame) on street corners of most South African towns. No idea why the white middle-class in Apartheid South Africa had such a love for this painting, but it was clear they did. Along with a painting of dogs playing poker.