Joshua Reynolds

1723-1792. British painter.

He was born on the 16 July 1723 at Plympton Earl, Devonshire, on the south-west coast of England, as a son of Rev. Samuel Reynolds and Theophila Potter. Showing an early interest in painting and drawing, he was sent to London to study art in 1740. He was apprenticed to Thomas Hudson, a native of Devonshire, who was popular as a portrait painter. After two years with Hudson, Reynolds returned to Devonshire, where he employed himself in portrait painting and after his father`s death in 1746, he came under the influence of the works of William Gandy of Exeter.

Meanwhile, Reynolds made the acquaintance to Lord Edgcumbe and Captain Keppel, who invited him to accompany him to Minorca. In December 1749 Reynolds made his way to Rome. After more than two years in Rome, he spent five months in visiting Parma, Florence, Venice and other important cities in Italy. Then Reynolds returned to England, where he established himself as one of the leading portrait painters in the country. Finally, in 1760 he moved to Leicester Square, where he continued to paint until his death. In December 1768, when the Royal Academy of Arts was founded, Reynolds was elected its first president. In 1784, he was appointed as painter to George III.

In the summer of 1789, Reynolds’ sight began to fail. He occasionally continued to paint, delivering his final discourse at the Academy on 10 December. Reynolds was gradually sinking and after a few months of depressions and liver complaint, he died on 23 February 1792 in London.

His portraits include Lord Heathfield, Johnson, Sterne, Goldsmith, Gibbon, Burke, Fox, Garrick as well as Mrs. Siddons as the Tragic Muse or Viscountess Crosbie.

Sources:

Armstrong, Walter Sir: Joshua Reynolds. Aus dem Englischen übertragen von E. von Kraatz, München, Vereinigte Kunstanstalten, o.J.

Wendorf, Richard: Sir Joshua Reynolds: The Painter in Society, Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 1996.

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