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| Sir Joshua Reynolds |
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| Biography: |
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Sir Joshua Reynolds
(1723-1792)
Joshua Reynolds was born into the family of the Reverend Samuel Reynolds, who held the post of headmaster in a local grammar school, which Joshua attended as a boy. The young Reynolds received a good classical education; he loved literature and became well-read in classical Greek and Roman authors. He revealed his interest in and talent for painting rather early.
In 1740 he went to London to study painting. He was not interested in portraiture and had no intention to work in this genre. However, apprenticeship in the studio of Thomas Hudson (1701-1779), a Devonshireman like himself and a famous portrait painter of that time, changed ReynoldsĄ¯ mind. He spent 3 years in HudsonĄ¯s studio and even before finishing his studies, began his career as a portrait painter. His early independent Devon works reveal his inexperience and lack of individual style. In 1744 Reynolds returned to London for another two years, during which he evidently studied the available works of old masters. Thus, his Self-Portrait of 1747 (London, Portrait Gallery) was influenced by Rembrandt and the famous group portrait of the Eliot Family shows that he had studied the large-scale portrait of the Pembroke Family (1634-35) by the Flemish Baroque painter Sir Anthony Van Dyck.
However modest the early works might have been, they revealed the compositional talent of the young painter and his interest in light and theatrical effects.
In 1749, Reynolds left England for a long trip abroad, on a ship captained by his friend Augustus Keppel. His first stop was Minorca. Unfortunately, he suffered a fall from a horse, which left a permanent scar on his lip, and could not work for the next five months. From Minorca, Reynolds went to Rome, where he spent two years (1750-52) studying antique and Renaissance art. Then, he stayed for three months in Venice, and visited Florence, Bologna and Parma. He made a lot of studies and sketches, trying to understand the techniques and secrets of Michelangelo, Raphael and Venetian artists, especially Titian. Venetian tradition with its emphasis on color and light effects had a lasting influence on all his art, though he never admitted this and stressed the importance of shape and drawing.
In 1753, Reynolds settled in London. He became popular very quickly. The Portrait of Captain Keppel (1753-54, Greenwich, National Marine Museum), on whose ship he had left to Italy, brought him his first success. By 1760, he had become the most popular portrait painter in London. His works were valued twice as much as those of Gainsborough.
Undoubtedly, Reynolds was artistically talented and a master of the brush, but he also possessed another gift -- a gift for selling -- and in the 1750s-60s he ran what we would today call a highly successful marketing ca.... |
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