Joshua Reynolds - part 8

Sir Joshua Reynolds Stipple
engraving printed in black ink on laid paper 13.3 x 10.8 cm (image)

Sir Joshua Reynolds was the leading English portraitist of the 18th century. Through study of ancient and Italian Renaissance art, and of the work of Rembrandt, Rubens, and Van Dyck, he brought great variety and dignity to British portraiture. He was born at Plympton in Devon, the son of a headmaster and fellow of Balliol College, Oxford: a more educated background than that of most painters. 

He was apprenticed in 1740 to the fashionable London portraitist Thomas Hudson, who also trained Joseph Wright of Derby. He spent 1749-52 abroad, mainly in Italy, and set up practice in London shortly after his return. He soon established himself as the leading portrait painter, though he was never popular with George III. He was a key figure in the intellectual life of London, and a friend of Dr Johnson.

 When the Royal Academy was founded in 1768, Reynolds was elected its first President. Although believing that history painting was the noblest work of the painter, he had little opportunity to practise it, and his greatest works are his portraits. His paintings are not perfectly preserved due to faulty technique. The carmine reds have faded, leaving flesh-tones paler than intended, and the bitumen used in the blacks has tended to crack. The National Gallery, London

For more biographical details see part 1, and for earlier works see parts 1 - 7 also.

This is part 8 of an 8-part series on the works of Sir Joshua Reynolds (The paintings in part 8 are undated):

n.d. Admiral Edward Boscawen (1711–1761)
oil on canvas 233.5 x 152,5 cm
National Maritime Museum, London

n.d. Andrew Stuart
oil on canvas 76 x 63 cm
Private Collection

n.d. Captain Edgcumbe, RN
oil on canvas 64.5 x 53 cm
Mount Edgcumbe House, Torpoint, UK

n.d. Charles Cornwallis (1738–1805), Lord Brome, 1st Marquis Cornwallis
oil on canvas 124.7 x 100.3 cm
Port Eliot, Saltash, Plymouth, UK

n.d. Charles Smith (1688–1768), Merchant and Banker
oil on canvas 76.2 x 63.5 cm
City Art Centre, Edinburgh, UK

n.d. David Garrick: Eva Maria Garrick, née Veigel
oil on canvas 140.3 x 169.9 cm
National Portrait Gallery, London

n.d. Dr. Samuel Johnson
oil on canvas 43.5 x 36.8 cm
Legion of Honor, Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco

n.d. Edward Eliot (1727–1804), 1st Lord Eliot
oil on canvas 74.2 x 60.4 cm
Port Eliot, Saltash, Plymouth, UK

n.d. George III (1738–1820)
oil on canvas 77 x 64 cm
Tiverton Town Hall, UK

n.d. George Montagu-Dunk, 2nd Earl of Halifax (1716-1771)
oil on canvas (size not given)
Nova Scotia Art Gallery, Halifax, Canada

n.d. Head and Bust of a Woman
charcoal with pastel on laid paper 30.6 x 23.7 cm
National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC

n.d. Hugh Percy (1712–1786), Earl of Northumberland, Later 1st Duke of Northumberland
oil on canvas 238 x 147.3 cm
The Supreme Court, Middlesex Guildhall Art Collection, London

n.d. James Murray
oil on cnavas 238.8 x 144.8 cm
Chequers Court, Aylesbury, UK

n.d. Jemima, Marchioness Cornwallis and her Son (later Lord Brome)
oil on canvas 125.2 x 100 cm
Port Eliot, Saltash, Plymouth, UK

n.d. John Frederick Sackville (1745–1799), 3rd Duke of Dorset, KG
oil on canvas 95 x 82 cm
National Trust, Knole, Knole, Sevenoaks, Kent, UK

n.d. John Thomas, Bishop of Rochester
oil on canvas 128 x 102 cm
Private Collection

n.d. Johnson as a Young Man (1709–1784)
oil on canvas 58 x 49 cm
Samuel Johnson Birthplace Museum, Lichfield, UK

n.d. Lady Elizabeth Harcourt (1739–1811), Lady Lee
oil on canvas 172.5 x 122 cm
National Trust, Hartwell House, Aylesbury, UK

n.d. Mrs John Clevland of Tapley
oil on canvas 71 x 59 cm
Burton Art Gallery and Museum, Bideford, UK

n.d. Mrs. Carnac
oil on canvas 56.5 x 43.5 cm
Cincinnati Art Museum, Ohio

n.d. Piping Shepherd Boy

This was one of Reynolds' most popular 'fancy pictures' in its day. It was probably inspired by pictures of the same subject by Giorgione. Haydon said of the work: 'it is the completest bit of a certain expression in the world – a thing I could dwell on for ages' and he persuaded George Phillips, MP, to buy it for 400 guineas.

n.d. Piping Shepherd Boy
oil on canvas 94 x 63.5 cm
National Trust, Antony, Torpoint, UK

n.d. Portrait of a Gentleman

The sitter is thought to be George Bridges Brudenell, son of James Brudenell, second son of Francis Lord Brudenell, who died before his father Robert 2nd Earl of Cardigan. He was Equerry to George II and represented the County of Rutland in several Parliaments.

n.d. Portrait of a Gentleman (possibly George Bridges Brudenell)
oil on canvas 75 x 61 cm
Weston Park, Shifnal, UK

n.d. Portrait of a Lady
oil on canvas 54.4 x 46.3 cm
The Bowes Museum, Barnard Castle, County Durham, England

n.d. Portrait of a Woman
oil on canvas 75.2 x 62.2 cm
The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York

n.d. Reverend Samuel Reynolds
oil on canvas 75 x 62 cm
The Box, Plymouth, UK

n.d. Sir William Chambers
(School of Sir Joshua Reynolds)
oil on canvas 77 x 63 cm
Louvre Museum, Paris

n.d. Studio Portrait of Emma, Lady Hamilton, as Bacchante
oil on canvas 76.8 x 63.5 cm
The Reiff Collection, UK

n.d. Study of a woman and child
 black chalk on paper 26.7 x 18.4 cm
The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York

n.d. The actress Kitty Fisher
oil on canvas 46 x 55 cm
Staatliche Museen, Berlin

n.d. The Entrance to Mr Thrale's Park, Streatham
oil on canvas 27.3 x 39.4 cm
V&A Museum, London

n.d. The Honourable Edward James Eliot (1758–1797)
oil on canvas 74.7 x 61.6 cm
Port Eliot, Saltash, Plymouth, UK

n.d. Theophilia Gwatkin
oil on canvas 73.7 x 61 cm
Art Institute of Chicago, IL