Editing Joshua Reynolds (section)

==Career==
[[File:Reynolds, Joshua - Cupid Untying the Zone of Venus.jpg|thumb|''[[Cupid Untying the Zone of Venus]]'' (1788)]]
Having shown an early interest in art, Reynolds was apprenticed in 1740 to the fashionable London portrait painter [[Thomas Hudson (painter)|Thomas Hudson]], who like Reynolds had been born in Devon.<ref name=penny1/> Hudson had a collection of Old Master drawings, including some by [[Guercino]], of which Reynolds made copies.<ref name=penny1/>  Although apprenticed to Hudson for a period of four years, Reynolds remained with him only until the summer of 1743.<ref name=penny1/> Having left Hudson, Reynolds worked for some time as a portrait-painter in Plymouth Dock (now [[Devonport, Devon|Devonport]]). He returned to London before the end of 1744, but following his father's death in late 1745 he shared a house in Plymouth Dock with his sisters.<ref name=penny1/>

In 1749, Reynolds met Commodore [[Augustus Keppel, 1st Viscount Keppel|Augustus Keppel]], who invited him to join [[HMS Centurion (1732)|HMS ''Centurion'']], of which he had command, on a voyage to the Mediterranean. While with the ship he visited Lisbon, Cádiz, Algiers and Minorca. From Minorca he travelled to Livorno in Italy, and then to Rome,<ref>Leslie and Taylor 1865, volume 1, pp. 35–7</ref> where he spent two years,<ref>Leslie and Taylor 1865, volume 1, p. 39.</ref> studying the Old Masters and acquiring a taste for the "Grand Style".<ref>{{cite web |title=Grand manner |url=https://www.tate.org.uk/art/art-terms/g/grand-manner |website=Tate |access-date=22 May 2022}}</ref> [[Richard Edgcumbe, 1st Baron Edgcumbe|Lord Edgcumbe]], who had known Reynolds as a boy and introduced him to Keppel, suggested he should study with [[Pompeo Batoni]], the leading painter in Rome, but Reynolds replied that he had nothing to learn from him.<ref name=penny1/> While in Rome he suffered a severe cold, which left him partially deaf, and, as a result, he began to carry the small [[ear trumpet]] with which he is often pictured.

Reynolds travelled homeward overland via Florence, Bologna, Venice,<ref>Leslie and Taylor 1865, volume 1, pp. 62–5</ref> and Paris.<ref>Leslie and Taylor 1865, volume 1, p. 86.</ref> He was accompanied by [[Giuseppe Filippo Liberati Marchi|Giuseppe Marchi]], then aged about 17.<ref name=marchi/> Apart from a brief interlude in 1770, Marchi remained in Reynolds' employment as a studio assistant for the rest of  the artist's career.<ref name=marchi>{{cite book|chapter=Giuseppe Marchi|page=181|title=Reynolds|publisher=Royal Academy of Arts|type=Exhibition catalogue|year=1986}}</ref> Following his arrival in England in October 1752, Reynolds spent three months in Devon<ref name="ReferenceA">Leslie and Taylor 1865, volume 1, p. 89.</ref> before establishing himself in London the following year and remaining there for the rest of his life. He took rooms in [[St Martin's Lane]], before moving to Great Newport Street; his sister Frances acted as his housekeeper.<ref name="ReferenceA"/> He achieved success rapidly, and was extremely prolific.<ref>Leslie and Taylor 1865, volume 1, p.102. His pocket book records him as painting 150 sitters in 1758 alone.</ref> Lord Edgecumbe recommended [[William Cavendish, 3rd Duke of Devonshire]] and [[Charles FitzRoy, 2nd Duke of Grafton]] to sit for him, and other peers followed, including [[Prince William, Duke of Cumberland]], third son of [[George II of Great Britain|George II]],<ref name=penny22>{{cite book|chapter=The Ambitious Man|first=Nicholas|last=Penny|page=22|title=Reynolds|publisher=Royal Academy of Arts|type=Exhibition catalogue|year=1986}}</ref> in whose portrait, according to [[Nicholas Penny]] "bulk is brilliantly converted into power".<ref name=penny22/> In 1760, Reynolds moved into a large house, with space to show his works and accommodate his assistants, on the west side of Leicester Fields (now [[Leicester Square]]).<ref>{{cite book|chapter=The Ambitious Man|first=Nicholas|last=Penny|page=24|title=Reynolds|publisher=Royal Academy of Arts|type=Exhibition catalogue|year=1986}}</ref>

[[File:Joshua Reynolds - The Cottagers - 55.278 - Detroit Institute of Arts.jpg|thumb|left|''The Cottagers'' (1788)]]

Alongside ambitious full-length portraits, Reynolds painted large numbers of smaller works. In the late 1750s, at the height of the social season, he received five or six sitters a day, each for an hour.<ref name="penny1"/> By 1761, Reynolds could command a fee of 80 [[Guinea (coin)|guineas]] for a full-length portrait; in 1764, he was paid 100 guineas for a portrait of [[John Fane, 9th Earl of Westmorland|Lord Burghersh]].<ref>''[[The Times]]'', "Sale Of The Vaile And Other Pictures", 25 May 1903.</ref>

The clothing of Reynolds' sitters was usually painted by either one of his pupils,<ref name=northcote/> his studio assistant Giuseppe Marchi,<ref>{{cite web|publisher=Tate Gallery|title=Suzanna Beckford 1756|access-date=3 July 2016|url=http://www.tate.org.uk/art/artworks/reynolds-suzanna-beckford-n05799/text-summary}}</ref> or the specialist [[drapery painter]] [[Peter Toms (painter)|Peter Toms]].<ref name=northcote>{{cite book|title=The life of Sir Joshua Reynolds |volume=2|first=James |last=Northcote| page=26}}</ref> [[James Northcote]], his pupil, wrote of this arrangement that "the imitation of particular stuffs is not the work of genius, but is to be acquired easily by practice, and this was what his pupils could do by care and time more than he himself chose to bestow; but his own slight and masterly work was still the best."<ref name=northcote/> Lay figures were used to model the clothes.<ref name=penny22/>

Reynolds often adapted the poses of his subjects from the works of earlier artists, a practice mocked by [[Nathaniel Hone the Elder|Nathaniel Hone]] in a painting called ''The Conjuror'' submitted to the Royal Academy exhibition of 1775, and now in the collection of the [[National Gallery of Ireland]]. It shows a figure representing, though not resembling, Reynolds, seated in front of a cascade of prints from which Reynolds had borrowed with varying degrees of subtlety.<ref>{{cite book|chapter=Reynolds and Hone|first=John|last=Newman|pages=344–54|title=Reynolds|publisher=Royal Academy of Arts|type=Exhibition catalogue|year=1986}}</ref>

Although not known principally for his landscapes, Reynolds did paint in this genre. He had an excellent vantage from his house, [[Wick House, Richmond Hill|Wick House]], on [[Richmond Hill, London|Richmond Hill]], and painted the view in about 1780.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.richmond.gov.uk/local_history_richmond_hill.pdf|publisher=London Borough of Richmond|title=Local History RichmondHill|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120204050838/http://www.richmond.gov.uk/local_history_richmond_hill.pdf|archive-date=4 February 2012}}</ref>

[[File:The Age of Innocence - Reynolds.jpg|thumb|left|''[[The Age of Innocence (painting)|The Age of Innocence]]'' ({{circa|1788}}). Reynolds emphasized the natural grace of children in his paintings.]]
Reynolds also was recognised for his portraits of children. He emphasised the innocence and natural grace of children when depicting them. His 1788 portrait, [[The Age of Innocence (1788 painting)|''Age of Innocence'']], is his best known character study of a child. The subject of the painting is not known, although suggestions include Theophila Gwatkin, his great-niece, and Lady Anne Spencer, the youngest daughter of [[George Spencer, 4th Duke of Marlborough]].

===The Club===
Reynolds worked long hours in his studio, rarely taking a holiday. He was gregarious and keenly intellectual, with many friends from London's intelligentsia, numbered among whom were [[Samuel Johnson]], [[Oliver Goldsmith]], [[Edmund Burke]], [[Giuseppe Baretti]], [[Henry Thrale]], [[David Garrick]], and artist [[Angelica Kauffman]], exchanging [[Portrait of Angelica Kauffman|his portrait of her]] for a portrait of him by Kauffman.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.nationaltrustcollections.org.uk/object/872180|title=Angelica Kauffman, ''Sir Joshua Reynolds''|work=National Trust}}</ref> Johnson said in 1778: "Reynolds is too much under [Charles James] [[Charles James Fox|Fox]] and Burke at present. He is under the ''Fox star'' and the ''Irish constellation'' (meaning Burke). He is always under some planet".<ref>Boswell, James, ''Life of Johnson'' (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2008), p. 923.</ref>

Because of his popularity as a portrait painter, Reynolds enjoyed constant interaction with the wealthy and famous men and women of the day, and it was he who brought together the figures of [[The Club (dining club)|"The Club"]]. It was founded in 1764 and met in a suite of rooms on the first floor of the Turks Head at 9 [[Gerrard Street, London|Gerrard Street]], now marked by a plaque. Original members included Burke, [[Bennet Langton]], [[Topham Beauclerk]], Goldsmith, [[Anthony Chamier]], [[Thomas Hawkins (literary editor)|Thomas Hawkins]], and [[Christopher Nugent (physician)|Christopher Nugent]], to be joined by Garrick, [[James Boswell|Boswell]], and [[Richard Brinsley Sheridan]]. In ten years the membership had risen to 35. The Club met every Monday evening for supper and conversation and continued into the early hours of Tuesday morning. In later years, it met fortnightly during Parliamentary sessions. When in 1783 the landlord of the Turks Head died and the property was sold, The Club moved to [[Sackville Street, London|Sackville Street]].<ref>City of Westminster green plaques {{cite web|url=http://www.westminster.gov.uk/services/leisureandculture/greenplaques/ |title=Westminster City Council - Green Plaques Scheme |access-date=7 July 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120716210428/http://www.westminster.gov.uk/services/leisureandculture/greenplaques/ |archive-date=16 July 2012 }}</ref>

===Royal Academy===
[[File:Loton Park c1870.jpg|thumb|The hall at [[Loton Park]], {{circa|1870}}. Showing, in situ, on the far wall Reynolds' ''Frances Anne Crewe (Miss Greville), as St. [[Genevieve]]'' ({{circa|1773}})]]
Reynolds was one of the earliest members of the [[Royal Society of Arts]], helped found the [[Society of Artists of Great Britain]], and in 1768 became the first president of the [[Royal Academy of Arts]], a position he was to hold until his death. In 1769, he was [[Knight Bachelor|knighted]] by [[George III]], only the second English artist to be so honoured.<ref>Wendorf, Richard, ''Sir Joshua Reynolds: The Painter in Society'' (Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 1998), p 46.</ref>  His ''Discourses'', a series of lectures delivered at the academy between 1769 and 1790, are remembered for their sensitivity and perception. In one lecture, he expressed the opinion that "invention, strictly speaking, is little more than a new combination of those images which have been previously gathered and deposited in the memory." William Jackson in his contemporary essays said of Reynolds 'there is much ingenuity and originality in all his academic discourses, replete with classical knowledge of his art, acute remarks on the works of others,  and general taste and discernment'.<ref>Jackson, William, ''The Four Ages including essays on various subjects'', London: Cadell & Davies, 1798.</ref>

Reynolds and the Royal Academy received a mixed reception. Critics included [[William Blake]] who published the vitriolic ''Annotations to Sir Joshua Reynolds' Discourses'' in 1808. [[J. M. W. Turner]] and Northcote were fervent acolytes: Turner requested he be laid to rest at Reynolds' side, and Northcote, who spent four years as Reynolds' pupil, wrote to his family: "I know him thoroughly, and all his faults, I am sure, and yet almost worship him."
In 2018, the Royal Academy of Arts celebrated its 250th anniversary from its opening in 1768. This became an impetus for galleries and museums across the UK to celebrate "the making, debating and exhibiting art at the Royal Academy".<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.royalacademy.org.uk/ra250uk|title=RA250 UK|access-date=30 November 2018}}</ref> [[Waddesdon Manor]] was amongst the historic houses that supported Sir Joshua Reynolds's influence at the academy, acknowledging how:
[[File:Waddesdon 2468.jpg|thumb|Reynolds's 'Mrs Sheridan in the character of St Cecilia' was considered by the artist's nephew as a 'sight worth coming to Devonshire to see, I cannot suppose that there was ever a greater Beauty in the world, nor even Helen or Cleopatra could have exceeded her', 1775, [[Waddesdon Manor]].]]
<blockquote>[He] transformed British painting with portraits and subject pictures that engaged their audience's knowledge, imagination, memory and emotions... As an eloquent teacher and art theorist, he used his role at the head of the Royal Academy to raise the status of art and artists of Britain.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://waddesdon.org.uk/joshua-reynolds/|title=Joshua Reynolds digital trail, Waddesdon Manor|last=Carey|first=Juliet|date=30 March 2018|access-date=30 Nov 2018}}</ref></blockquote>

===''Lord Keppel''===
[[File:Augustus Keppel, Viscount Keppel by Sir Joshua Reynolds.jpg|thumb|right|''[[Augustus Keppel, 1st Viscount Keppel|Lord Keppel]]'' (1779)]]
In the [[Battle of Ushant (1778)|Battle of Ushant]] against the French in 1778, [[Augustus Keppel, 1st Viscount Keppel]] commanded the [[Channel Fleet]] and the outcome resulted in no clear winner; Keppel ordered the attack be renewed and was obeyed except by Sir [[Hugh Palliser]], who commanded the rear, and the French escaped bombardment. A dispute between Keppel and Palliser arose and Palliser brought charges of misconduct and neglect of duty against Keppel and the [[Admiralty (United Kingdom)|Admiralty]] decided to court-martial him. On 11 February 1779, Keppel was acquitted of all charges and became a national hero. One of Keppel's lawyers commissioned Sir [[Nathaniel Dance-Holland]] to paint a portrait of Keppel, but Keppel redirected it to Reynolds. Reynolds alluded to Keppel's trial in the portrait by painting his hand on his sword, reflecting the presiding officer's words at the court-martial: "In delivering to you your sword, I am to congratulate you on its being restored to you with so much honour".<ref>McIntyre, pp. 350–353.</ref>

===Principal Painter in Ordinary to the King===
On 10 August 1784, [[Allan Ramsay (artist)|Allan Ramsay]] died and the office of [[Principal Painter in Ordinary]] to King [[George III]] became vacant. [[Thomas Gainsborough]] felt that he had a good chance of securing it, but Reynolds felt he deserved it and threatened to resign the presidency of the Royal Academy if he did not receive it. Reynolds noted in his pocket book: "Sept. 1, 2½, to attend at the Lord Chancellor's Office to be sworn in painter to the King".<ref>McIntyre, p. 426.</ref> It did not make Reynolds happy, however, as he wrote to Boswell: "If I had known what a shabby miserable place it is, I would not have asked for it; besides as things have turned out I think a certain person is not worth speaking to, nor speaking of", presumably meaning the King.<ref name="McIntyre, p. 427">McIntyre, p. 427.</ref> Reynolds wrote to [[Jonathan Shipley]], [[Bishop of St Asaph]], a few weeks later: "Your Lordship congratulation on my succeeding Mr. Ramsay I take very kindly, but it is a most miserable office, it is reduced from two hundred to thirty-eight pounds per annum, the Kings Rat catcher I believe is a better place, and I am to be paid only a fourth part of what I have from other people, so that the Portraits of their Majesties are not likely to be better done now, than they used to be, I should be ruined if I was to paint them myself".<ref name="McIntyre, p. 427"/>

===''Lord Heathfield''===
[[File:George Augustus Eliott, 1st Baron Heathfield - by Joshua Reynolds - Project Gutenberg eText 19009.jpg|thumb|''[[George Augustus Eliott, 1st Baron Heathfield|Lord Heathfield]]'' (1787)]]
In 1787, Reynolds painted the portrait of [[George Augustus Eliott, 1st Baron Heathfield]], who became a national hero for the successful defence of [[Gibraltar]] in the [[Great Siege of Gibraltar|Great Siege]] from 1779 to 1783 against the combined forces of [[Kingdom of France|France]] and [[History of Spain (1700-1808)|Spain]]. Heathfield is depicted against a background of clouds and cannon smoke, wearing the uniform of the [[15th The King's Hussars|15th Light Dragoons]] and clasping the key of the Rock, its chain wrapped twice around his right hand.<ref>McIntyre, p. 472.</ref> [[John Constable]] said in the 1830s that it was "almost a history of the defence of Gibraltar".<ref name="ODNB" /> [[Desmond Shawe-Taylor]] has claimed that the portrait may have a religious meaning, Heathfield holding the key similar to St. Peter (Jesus' "rock") possessing the keys to Heaven, Heathfield "the rock upon which Britannia builds her military interests".<ref name="ODNB" /><ref>Desmond Shawe-Taylor, ''The Georgians: Eighteenth-Century Portraiture and Society'' (London: Barrie & Jenkins, 1990), p. 49.</ref>