Editing Joshua Reynolds

{{Short description|English painter (1723–1792)}}
{{Other uses}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2020}}{{Use British English|date=February 2023}}

{{Infobox artist
| honorific_prefix = [[Sir]]
| honorific_suffix = {{postnominals|country=GBR|PRA|FRS|FRSA|size=100%}}
| image            = Sir Joshua Reynolds - Self-Portrait - Google Art Project (2315517).jpg
| caption          = ''[[Self-portrait]]'', {{c.|1750}}
| birth_date       = {{birth date|1723|7|16|df=y}}
| birth_place      = [[Plympton]], [[Devon]], England
| death_date       = {{death date and age|1792|2|23|1723|7|16|df=y}}
| death_place      = [[Leicester Fields]], London, England
| works            = [[The Age of Innocence (painting)|''The Age of Innocence'']]
| resting_place    = [[St Paul's Cathedral]]
| education        = [[Plympton Grammar School|Plympton Free Grammar School]]
| signature        = Joshua Reynolds signature.png
}}

'''Sir Joshua Reynolds''' (16 July 1723 – 23 February 1792) was an English painter who specialised in portraits. The art critic [[John Russell (art critic)|John Russell]] called him one of the major European painters of the 18th century,<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1986/01/26/arts/art-view-anybody-who-was-somebody-knocked-at-his-door.html|title=ART VIEW; ANYBODY WHO WAS SOMEBODY KNOCKED AT HIS DOOR|first=John|last=Russell|newspaper=[[The New York Times]]|date=26 January 1986}}</ref> while [[Lucy Peltz]] says he was "the leading portrait artist of the 18th-century and arguably one of the greatest artists in the history of art."<ref>[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9XlVbzagZqc&ab_channel=HENITalks Why This Joshua Reynolds Masterpiece is Pivotal in Art History? HENI talks, June 21 2024, Lucy Peltz speaks from time 0.13 seconds onwards.]</ref> He promoted the [[Grand manner|"Grand Style"]] in painting, which depended on idealisation of the imperfect. He was a founder and first president of the [[Royal Academy of Arts]] and was [[Knight Bachelor|knighted]] by [[George III]] in 1769. He has been referred to as the 'master who revolutionised British Art.'<ref name=":0" />

Reynolds had a famously prolific studio that produced over 2,000 paintings during his lifetime.<ref>D. Mannings, Sir Joshua Reynolds, A Complete Catalogue of his paintings, New Haven and London, 2000</ref> [[Ellis Waterhouse|EK Waterhouse]] estimated those works the painter did ‘think worthy’ at ‘hardly less than a hundred paintings which one would like to take into consideration, either for their success, their originality, or their influence.'<ref>Duncan Robinson, Reynolds's portraits,The Burlington Magazine, May 2015 Vol. 157 / No. 1346, Final paragraph</ref> Of these, ''[[Portrait of Omai]]'' is probably his best known work and has been described by [[Simon Schama]] as "one of the greatest things British art has ever produced [and] one of the all time, timeless masterpieces that painting can produce."<ref>[https://www.artfund.org/our-purpose/news/joshua-reynolds-portrait-of-mai-omai-saved-for-the-uk-public Simon Schama, Art Fund, To support the Omai campaign, historian Simon Schama takes a look at this incredible portrait and explains what makes it such an important work, 20March 2023, words spoken from inception and at 3mins 40secs]</ref> Waterhouse considered the ''[[The Marlborough Family|Marlborough family]]'' as 'the most monumental achievement of British portraiture'<ref>EK Waterhouse, PAINTING IN BRITAIN 1530-1790, Penguin Books, Baltimore, 1953 p159</ref> and that 'Reynolds' genius came to full flower in the diversity and geniality he was able to give to his full-length portraits' like ''[[Portrait of Philip Gell]]'' and ''[[:File:Reynolds123.jpg|Portrait of the Earl of Carlisle]]''.<ref>EK Waterhouse, Reynolds, London 1973 p39.</ref>[[Thomas Lawrence]] rated ''[[Sarah Siddons as the Tragic Muse]]'' as "indisputably the finest female portrait in the world."<ref>William Poundstone on Art and Chaos, LOS ANGELES COUNTY MUSEUM ON FIRE, Two Questions About Reynolds' "Portrait of Mai", April 26, 2023, paragraph 10</ref> {{ill|Neil Jeffares|fr}} adds that ''[[Portrait of Robert Orme]]'' was 'surely one of the great eighteenth-century European portraits.'<ref>Neil Jeffares, Reynolds Redux, 3 August 2014, paragraph 14</ref> The price paid for the exceptional ''[[Portrait of Omai]]'' in 2023 was £50 million – far more than had ever been paid for an 18th-century picture.<ref>Getty Press release,Joshua Reynolds’ Portrait of Mai Jointly Acquired by the National Portrait Gallery and Getty, April 25th 2023.</ref> This was followed two years later by the sale of the iconic full-length ''[[Portrait of Lady Worsley]]'' for £25 million.<ref>Gapper, John (24 January 2025). "Blackstone's Schwarzman stirs London art market with record purchases". Financial Times.</ref>[[Jonathan Jones (journalist)|Jonathan Jones]] says 'that puts Reynolds in the superstar category, way beyond his contemporaries, and competing with the likes of [[Damien Hirst]] and [[Lucian Freud]].'<ref>Spotlight on Reynolds review – superficial portraits by a well-connected hack, Jonathan Jones, Guardian newspaper, 13 July 2023, paragraph 7</ref>'Reynolds is not remote or staid at all. He’s the portraitist of the [[Age of Enlightenment|Enlightenment]], a daring artist who captured a daring age.'<ref name=":0">Joshua Reynolds: the overlooked master who revolutionised British art, Jonathan Jones, Guardian newspaper, 9 March 2015, paragraph 18</ref>

==Early life==
[[File:Self-portrait c.1747-9 by Joshua Reynolds (2).jpg|thumb|''Self-portrait'', aged about 24]]
[[File:PlymptonOldGrammarSchool Devon.JPG|thumb|[[Plympton Grammar School|Old Grammar School, Plympton]], founded 1658, built 1664, attended by Joshua Reynolds whose father was headmaster]]
Reynolds was born in [[Plympton]], [[Devon]], on 16 July 1723,<ref name="ODNB" /> as the third son of the Reverend Samuel Reynolds (1681–1745), master of the [[Plympton Grammar School|Plympton Free Grammar School]] in the town. His father had been a fellow of [[Balliol College, Oxford]], but did not send any of his sons to the university.<ref name=penny1>{{cite book|chapter=The Ambitious Man|first=Nicholas|last=Penny|pages=17–18|title=Reynolds|publisher=Royal Academy of Arts|type=Exhibition catalogue|year=1986}}</ref>
One of his sisters, seven years his senior, was [[Mary Palmer]] (1716–1794), author of ''Devonshire Dialogue'', whose fondness for drawing is said to have had much influence on Joshua as a boy. In 1740, she provided £60, half of the premium paid to [[Thomas Hudson (painter)|Thomas Hudson]] the portrait-painter, for Joshua's pupillage, and nine years later advanced money for his expenses in Italy.<ref>Lee, Elizabeth, Biography of Mary Palmer, ''Dictionary of National Biography'', 1885–1900, Vol. 43.</ref> His other siblings included [[Frances Reynolds]] (1729–1807) and [[Elizabeth Johnson (pamphleteer)|Elizabeth Johnson]] (1721–1800).

As a boy, he also came under the influence of [[Zachariah Mudge (clergyman)|Zachariah Mudge]], whose [[Platonism|Platonistic]] philosophy stayed with him all his life. Reynolds made extracts in his [[commonplace book]] from [[Theophrastus]], [[Plutarch]], [[Seneca the Younger|Seneca]], [[Marcus Antonius]], [[Ovid]], [[William Shakespeare]], [[John Milton]], [[Alexander Pope]], [[John Dryden]], [[Joseph Addison]], [[Richard Steele]], and [[Aphra Behn]] and copied passages on art theory by [[Leonardo da Vinci]], [[Charles Alphonse Du Fresnoy]], and [[André Félibien]].<ref name="ODNB">Postle, Martin, [http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/23429 "Reynolds, Sir  Joshua  (1723–1792)"], ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'', Oxford University Press, 2004; online edn, October 2009. Retrieved 24 September 2010.</ref> The work that came to have the most influence on Reynolds was [[Jonathan Richardson]]'s ''An Essay on the Theory of Painting'' (1715). Reynolds' annotated copy was lost for nearly two hundred years until it appeared in a Cambridge bookshop, inscribed with the signature "J. Reynolds Pictor". It is now in the collection of the Royal Academy of Arts, London.<ref name="ODNB" />

==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>

==Later life==
In 1789, Reynolds lost the sight of his left eye, which forced him into retirement. In 1791 [[James Boswell]] dedicated his ''[[Life of Samuel Johnson]]'' to Reynolds. Reynolds  agreed with Burke's ''[[Reflections on the Revolution in France]]'' and, writing in early 1791, expressed his belief that the ''[[ancien régime]]'' of France had fallen due to spending too much time tending, as he puts it, <blockquote>to the splendor of the foliage, to the neglect of the stirring the earth about the roots. They cultivated only those arts which could add splendor to the nation, to the neglect of those which supported it – They neglected Trade & substantial Manufacture&nbsp;... but does it follow that a total revolution is necessary that because we have given ourselves up too much to the ornaments of life, we will now have none at all.<ref>McIntyre, p. 513.</ref></blockquote> When attending a dinner at [[Holland House]], Fox's niece Caroline was sat next to Reynolds and "burst out into glorification of the [[French Revolution|Revolution]] &ndash; and was grievously chilled and checked by her neighbour's cautious and unsympathetic tone".<ref>McIntyre, p. 487.</ref>
[[File:Sir Joshua Reynolds - The Ladies Waldegrave - Google Art Project.jpg|thumb|left|''[[The Ladies Waldegrave]]'' (1780)]]
On 4 June 1791, at a dinner at the [[Freemasons' Tavern]] to mark the King's birthday, Reynolds drank to the toasts "GOD ''save the'' KING!" and "May our glorious Constitution under which the arts flourish, be immortal!", in what was reported by the ''Public Advertiser'' as "a fervour truly patriotick". Reynolds "filled the chair with a most convivial glee".<ref name="McIntyre, p. 523">McIntyre, p. 523.</ref> He returned to town from Burke's house in [[Beaconsfield]] and [[Edmond Malone]] wrote that "we left his carriage at the Inn at Hayes, and walked five miles on the road, in a warm day, without his complaining of any fatigue".<ref name="McIntyre, p. 523"/>
[[File:Joshua Reynolds (1723-1792) - The Thames from Richmond Hill - N05635 - National Gallery.jpg|thumb|left|''The Thames from Richmond Hill'' (1788)]]
Later that month Reynolds suffered from a swelling over his left eye and had to be purged by a surgeon. In October he was too ill to take the president's chair and in November, [[Frances Burney]] recorded that <blockquote>I had long languished to see that kindly zealous friend, but his ill health had intimidated me from making the attempt": "He had a bandage over one eye, and the other shaded with a green half-bonnet. He seemed serious even to sadness, though extremely kind. 'I am very glad,' he said, in a meek voice and dejected accent, 'to see you again, and I wish I could see you better! but I have only one eye now, and hardly that.' I was really quite touched.<ref>McIntyre, pp. 523–524.</ref></blockquote> On 5 November, Reynolds, fearing he might not have an opportunity to write a will, wrote a memorandum intended to be his last will and testament, with [[Edmund Burke]], [[Edmond Malone]], and [[Philip Metcalfe]] named as executors. On 10 November, Reynolds wrote to [[Benjamin West]] to resign the presidency, but the General Assembly agreed he should be re-elected, with Sir [[William Chambers (architect)|William Chambers]] and West to deputise for him.<ref name="McIntyre, pp. 524–525">McIntyre, pp. 524–525.</ref>

Doctors [[Richard Warren (physician)|Richard Warren]] and Sir [[George Baker, 1st Baronet|George Baker]] believed Reynolds' illness to be psychological and they bled his neck "with a view of drawing the humour from his eyes" but the effect, in the view of his niece, was that it seemed "as if the 'principle of life' were gone" from Reynolds. On New Year's Day 1792 Reynolds became "seized with sickness", and from that time onwards could not keep food down.<ref name="McIntyre, pp. 524–525"/>
Reynolds died on 23 February 1792 at his house at 47 [[Leicester Fields]] in London between eight and nine in the evening.

Burke was present on the night Reynolds died, and was moved within hours to write a eulogy of Reynolds, starting with the following sentiments: "Sir Joshua Reynolds was on very many accounts one of the most memorable men of his Time. He was the first Englishman who added the praise of the elegant Arts to the other Glories of his Country. In Taste, in grace, in facility, in happy invention, and in the richness and Harmony of colouring, he was equal to the great masters of the renowned Ages." Burke's tribute was well received and one journalist called it "the eulogium of [[Apelles]] pronounced by [[Pericles]]".<ref>McIntyre, p. 528.</ref>

Reynolds was buried at [[St Paul's Cathedral]].<ref>"Memorials of St Paul's Cathedral" [[William Sinclair (Archdeacon of London)|Sinclair, W.]] p. 465: London; Chapman & Hall, Ltd; 1909.</ref> In 1903, [[Statue of Joshua Reynolds|a statue]], by [[Alfred Drury]], was erected in his honour in the Annenberg Courtyard of [[Burlington House]], home of the Royal Academy.<ref name="LR">{{cite web|url=http://www.londonremembers.com/memorials/burlington-house-courtyard-joshua-reynolds|title=Burlington House courtyard – Joshua Reynolds|publisher=London Remembers|access-date=25 September 2014}}</ref> Around the statue are fountains and lights, installed in 2000, arranged in the pattern of a star chart at midnight on the night of Reynolds' birth. The planets are marked by granite discs, and the Moon by a water recess.<ref name="AU">{{cite web|url=http://burlingtonhouse.org/about-us/|title=About Us|publisher=Burlington House|access-date=25 September 2014}}</ref>
<ref>{{cite journal|title=Stars in stone: the Annenberg Courtyard fountains|first=Margaret|last=Penston|date=1 April 2003|journal=Astronomy and Geophysics|volume=44|issue=2|pages=2.20–2.21|doi=10.1046/j.1468-4004.2003.44220.x|doi-access=}}</ref>

==Personal characteristics==

[[File:Joshua Reynolds (1723-1792) - Huang Ya Dong 'Wang-Y-Tong' - 129924 - National Trust.jpg|thumb|''[[Wang-y-tong|Huang Ya Dong 'Wang-Y-Tong]]''' (1776)]]

In appearance Reynolds was not striking. Slightly built, he was about 5'6" tall with dark brown curls, a florid complexion and features that James Boswell thought were "rather too largely and strongly limned." He had a broad face and a cleft chin, and the bridge of his nose was slightly dented; his skin was scarred by smallpox and his upper lip disfigured as a result of falling from a horse as a young man. [[Edmond Malone]] asserted however that "his appearance at first sight impressed the spectator with the idea of a well-born and well-bred English gentleman."

In his mature years he suffered from deafness, as recorded by [[Frances Burney]], although this did not impede his lively social life.<ref>Burney, F. ''The Diary of Fanny Burney'', Dent (Everyman edition), London, 1971, p. 27</ref> Renowned for his placidity, Reynolds often claimed that he "hated nobody". This may be self-idealisation. It is well known that he disliked [[George Romney (painter)|George Romney]], whom he referred to only as "the man in Cavendish Square" and whom he successfully prevented from becoming a member of the Royal Academy. He did not like Gainsborough, yet appreciated his achievements in the obituary he wrote of his rival. (Rump; Kidson). It is said that when he taught in one of his "discourses" that a painter should not amass too much of the colour blue in the foreground of an image, Gainsborough was prompted to paint his famous ''[[The Blue Boy]]''.

Never quite losing his Devonshire accent, Reynolds was not only an amiable and original conversationalist, but a friendly and generous host, so that Frances Burney recorded in her diary that he had "a suavity of disposition that set everybody at their ease in his society", and [[William Makepeace Thackeray]] believed "of all the polite men of that age, Joshua Reynolds was the finest gentleman". Dr Johnson commented on the "inoffensiveness" of his nature; Edmund Burke noted his "strong turn for humor". [[Thomas Barnard]], who later became [[List of Anglican Bishops of Killaloe|Bishop of Killaloe]], wrote in his closing verses on Reynolds stating:

<blockquote><poem>Thou say'st not only skill is gained
But genius too may be attained
By studious imitation;
Thy temper mild, thy genius fine
I'll copy till I make them mine
By constant application.</poem></blockquote>

[[File:Gilbert Stuart Sir Joshua Reynolds.jpg|thumb|''[[Portrait of Joshua Reynolds]]'' by [[Gilbert Stuart]], 1784]]

Some people, such as [[Hester Lynch Piozzi]], construed Reynolds' equable calm as cool and unfeeling. It is to this lukewarm temperament that [[Frederick W. Hilles]], Bodman Professor of English Literature at [[Yale]] attributes Reynolds' never having married. In the editorial notes of his compendium ''Portraits by Sir Joshua Reynolds'', Hilles theorises that "as a corollary one might say that he [Reynolds] was somewhat lacking in a capacity for love", and cites Boswell's notary papers: "He said the reason he would never marry was that every woman whom he liked had grown indifferent to him, and he had been <u>glad</u> he did not marry her." Reynolds' own sister, Frances, who lived with him as housekeeper, took her own negative opinion further still, thinking him "a gloomy tyrant". The presence of family compensated Reynolds for the absence of a wife; he wrote on one occasion to his friend [[Bennet Langton]], that both his sister and niece were away from home "so that I am quite a bachelor". Reynolds did not marry, and had no known children.

Biographer [[Ian McIntyre]] discusses the possibility of Reynolds having enjoyed sexual relations with certain clients, such as Nelly O'Brien (or "My Lady O'Brien", as he playfully dubbed her) and [[Kitty Fisher]], who visited his house for more sittings than were strictly necessary. [[Dan Cruickshank]] in his book ''London's Sinful Secret'' summarised Reynolds as having visited and re-visited various reputed red light districts in London after his return from Italy as a possible contributor to his medical condition and appearance due to commonly contracted disease in those areas of London.<ref>[[Dan Cruickshank]], ''London's Sinful Secret'', p.92. St. Martin's Press, New York (2009).</ref>

Regarding the [[Abolitionism in the United Kingdom|British debate over the abolition of slavery]], abolitionist [[Thomas Clarkson]] claimed that Reynolds stated his opposition to the [[Atlantic slave trade]] at a dinner with a group of friends with Clarkson present. Clarkson had shown the group samples of [[cloth]] produced in Africa, and Reynolds "gave his unqualified approbation of the abolition of this cruel traffic". Reynolds also subscribed to the second edition of [[Ottobah Cugoano]]'s abolitionist work ''Thoughts and Sentiments on the Evil and Wicked Traffic of the Slavery and Commerce of the Human Species''. Reynolds also had a Black servant who appears to have joined his household around the mid-1760s. Unlike Cugoano, however, his name is not recorded despite Northcote suggesting that the servant modelled for several of Reynolds’ paintings. Northcote stated that the man had been brought to Britain by Mary Mordaunt, the wife of landowner [[Valentine Morris]], though this account contained "inconsistencies and conflicting chronologies".<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.royalacademy.org.uk/art-artists/name/joshua-reynolds-pra | title=Sir Joshua Reynolds &#124; Artist &#124; Royal Academy of Arts }}</ref>

== The Reynolds Research Project ==
In 2010, the [[Wallace Collection]] launched the Reynolds Research Project. With the support of the [[Paul Mellon Centre for Studies in British Art]], and in partnership with the [[National Gallery]] and in collaboration with the [[Yale Center for British Art]], work was undertaken to conserve the museum's portraits to improve their visual appreciation for future generations and to investigate the ways in which they were painted.

The purpose of an exhibition and accompanying catalogue, ''Joshua Reynolds: Experiments in Paint'', 2015, was to share the discoveries of the project and to reveal Reynolds's complex and experimental engagement with painterly materials over the course of his long career. A series of thematic groupings of works from the collection with temporary loans allowed the curators to explore the development of Reynolds's images from both a technical and art historical viewpoint.

As well as exploring his experimentation with materials, the project also revealed the innovative ways in which Reynolds collaborated with his patrons; played with the conventions of genre, composition and pose; engaged with the work of other artists; and organised the submission and display of his work at exhibitions. The commissioning and collecting of Reynolds's work, specifically in the context of the founders of the Wallace Collection (the Seymour-Conway family), was also examined.

==Gallery==
<gallery mode="packed" heights="200">
File:Joshua Reynolds by Joshua Reynolds.jpg|''Self Portrait'', {{circa|1740}}
File:Augustus Keppel BHC2821.jpg|''[[Portrait of Augustus Keppel]]'' (1749), Reynolds's first portrait of Keppel
File:Captain the Honourable Augustus Keppel 1725-86 by Sir Joshua Reynolds.jpg|''Captain the Honourable [[Augustus Keppel, 1st Viscount Keppel|Augustus Keppel]]'' in the pose of the ''[[Apollo Belvedere]]'' (1753)
File:EdwardCornwallisArtGalleryofNovaScotia1756.jpg|''[[Edward Cornwallis]]'' (1756)
File:Sir Joshua Reynolds - Miss Elizabeth Ingram - Google Art Project.jpg|''Miss Elizabeth Ingram'' (1757), [[Walker Art Gallery]], Liverpool
File:Reynolds.jpg|''Portrait of Miss Mary Pelham'' ({{circa|1757}}), [[Dallas Museum of Art]]
File:Charles Lennox, 3rd Duke of Richmond.jpg|''[[Charles Lennox, 3rd Duke of Richmond]]'' (1758)
File:Captain Francis Reynolds.jpg|''[[Francis Reynolds-Moreton (Royal Navy officer)]]'' (1758)
File:Henry Yelverton, Third Earl of Essex.jpg|''Henry Yelverton, Third Earl of Essex'' (1758-1759), [[Museum of the Shenandoah Valley]]
File:Sir Joshua Reynolds - James, 7th Earl of Lauderdale - Google Art Project.jpg|''[[James Maitland, 7th Earl of Lauderdale|James, 7th Earl of Lauderdale]]'' (1759–1760), [[Art Gallery of New South Wales]]
File:Ostenaco.gif|''[[Cherokee]] Chief Ostenaco'' (1763)
File:P.Gell.pdf|''[[Portrait of Philip Gell|Philip Gell]]'' (1763)
File:Kitty Fisher and parrot, by Joshua Reynolds.jpg|''Kitty Fisher and Parrott'' (1763–1764)
File:Joshua Reynolds - Mrs Abington.jpg|''Mrs Abington as The Comic Muse'' (1764–1768), [[Waddesdon Manor]]
File:2ndEarlofHalifaxByJoshuaReynoldsNSArtGallery.jpg|''[[George Montagu-Dunk, 2nd Earl of Halifax]]'' (1764)
File:Joshua Reynolds - Portrait of Nelly O'Brien WLC WLC P38-001.jpg|''[[Nelly O'Brien]]'', 1764
File:Richard Croftes of West Harling, Norfolk.jpg|''Richard Crofts of West Harling, Norfolk'' (1765)
File:David Garrick; Eva Maria Garrick (née Veigel) by Sir Joshua Reynolds.jpg|''David Garrick; Eva Maria Garrick (née Veigel)''
File:Joshua Reynolds - Tysoe Hancock and his Family with an Indian Maid - WGA19338.jpg|''[[Tysoe Hancock]] and his family with an Indian maid'' (1765)
File:Joshua Reynolds - John Julius Angerstein.jpg|''[[John Julius Angerstein]]'' (1765)
File:Elizabeth, Lady Amherst (1740-1830) by Joshua Reynolds.jpg|''[[Elizabeth, Lady Amherst]]'' (1767)
File:Sir Joshua Reynolds - Colonel Acland and Lord Sydney- The Archers - Google Art Project.jpg|''[[Colonel Acland and Lord Sydney, The Archers]]'' (1769)
File:Elizabeth Kerr of Lothian (1745-1780) by Joshua Reynolds.jpg|''[[Portrait of Elizabeth Kerr]]'' ({{circa|1769}})
File:Reynolds123.jpg|''[[Frederick Howard, 5th Earl of Carlisle]]'' (1769)
File:Lady Christian Henrietta Caroline Harriot Acland KNH 922317.jpg|''Lady Christian Acland'' (1771)
File:'Boy with Grapes' by Joshua Reynolds, Cincinnati Art Museum.JPG|''Boy with Grapes'', (1773), [[Cincinnati Art Museum]]
File:The Strawberry Girl by Joshua Reynolds.jpg|''A Strawberry Girl'', (1773)
File:Joshua Reynolds (1723-1792) - Francesco Bartolozzi (1727–1815) - 872094 - National Trust.jpg|''[[Portrait of Francesco Bartolozzi]]'' (1773)
File:Anne Seymour Damer, by Joshua Reynolds (1723-1792).jpg|''Anne Seymour Damer'' (1773)
File:Joseph Banks 1773 Reynolds.jpg|''[[Portrait of Joseph Banks]]'' (1773)
File:Sir Joshua Reynolds - Lady Cockburn and Her Three Eldest Sons (1773-1775).jpg|''[[Lady Cockburn and Her Three Eldest Sons]]'' (1773–1775)
File:Master Crewe by Joshua Reynolds.jpg|''Master Crewe as Henry VIII'', (1775)
File:Miss Crewe (Reynolds).jpg|''Miss Crewe'', {{circa|1775}}, [[Tate Britain]]<ref>[https://www.tate.org.uk/art/artworks/reynolds-miss-crewe-l02926 Tate]</ref>
File:Miss Bowles by Joshua Reynolds.jpg|''Miss Bowles'', [[Wallace Collection]], 1775
File:InfantSamuel.jpg|''The Infant Samuel'' (1776)
File:Joshua Reynolds - Portrait of Omai.jpg|''[[Portrait of Omai|Omai]]'' (1776)
File:Sir Joshua Reynolds - Sarah Campbell - Google Art Project.jpg|''Sarah Campbell'' (1777)
File:Portrait of Jane, Countess of Eglinton by Sir Joshua Reynolds.jpg|''Countess of Eglinton'' (1777)
File:Reynolds Sir Joshua-Lady Caroline Howard.jpg|''[[Lady Caroline Howard]]'' (1778)
File:Jane Fleming.jpg|''[[Jane, Countess of Harrington]]'' (1778)
File:Reynolds - 4th Duke of Marlborough and Family.jpg|''[[The Marlborough Family]]'' (1778)
File:Sir Joshua Reynolds - Lady Elizabeth Delmé and Her Children - Google Art Project.jpg|''[[Lady Elizabeth Delmé and Her Children]]'' (1779)
File:Portrait of Sir William Chambers.png|''[[Portrait of Sir William Chambers]]'' (1780)
File:Banastre-Tarleton-by-Joshua-Reynolds.jpg|''[[Portrait of Banastre Tarleton]]'', (1782), [[National Gallery]]
File:Colonel George K. H. Coussmaker, Grenadier Guards by Joshua Reynolds 1782.jpeg|''Captain [[George K. H. Coussmaker]]'' (1782)
File:Sir Joshua Reynolds - Charles Stanhope, 3rd Earl of Harrington - Google Art Project.jpg|''[[Charles Stanhope, 3rd Earl of Harrington]]'' (1782)
File:Lady Elizabeth Russell (Keppel) (1739-1768.jpg (1761 door Joshua Reynolds).jpg|''Lady Elizabeth Keppel'' (1761)
File:Admiral Hood 1783.jpg|''Admiral [[Samuel Hood, 1st Viscount Hood|Hood]]'' (1783)
File:Heads of Angels - Miss Frances (Gordon) by Sir Joshua Reynolds, PRA.jpg|Heads of Angels{{snd}}''Miss Frances'' (Gordon), (1787)
File:Maria Anne Fitzherbert1788.jpg|''[[Portrait of Maria Fitzherbert]]'', (1788)
File:Cupid and Psyche (Reynolds, 1789).jpeg|''[[Cupid and Psyche (Reynolds)|Cupid and Psyche]]'', (1789)
File:Reynolds, Sir Joshua, The Infant Hercules, ca. 1785-89.jpg|''The Infant Hercules'' ({{circa|1785}}–1789), [[Princeton University Art Museum]]
File:Reynolds, Sir Joshua - Mrs Siddons as the Tragic Muse - Google Art Project.jpg|''[[Sarah Siddons as the Tragic Muse]]'' (1789), [[The Huntington Library]], [[San Marino, California]]
File:Sir Joshua Reynolds (1723-92) - Francis Rawdon-Hastings (1754-1826), Second Earl of Moira and First Marquess of Hastings - RCIN 407508 - Royal Collection.jpg|''[[Portrait of Lord Moira]]'' (1790)
File:Joshua Reynolds (1723-1792) - Mrs Elizabeth Carnac - P35 - The Wallace Collection.jpg|''Mrs Elizabeth Carnac'' (1775)
File:Sir Joshua Reynolds, Lady Elizabeth Compton, 1780-1782, NGA 104.jpg|''Lady Elizabeth Compton, Countess of Burlington'' (1780-1782)
File:Joshua Reynolds - Georgiana, Duchess of Devonshire.jpg|''[[Georgiana Cavendish, Duchess of Devonshire|Georgiana, Duchess of Devonshire]]'' (c.1775)
File:Reynolds - Jane Fleming, Countess of Harrington - Harewood House.jpg|''Jane Fleming, Countess of Harrington'' (c.1775)
File:Reynolds - Lady Worsley.jpg|''Lady Worsley'' (1776)
File:Sir William Fawcett by Sir Joshua Reynolds.jpg|''Sir William Fawcett'' (1784)
File:Sir Joshua Reynolds 008.jpg|''John Hayes St. Leger''
File:Sir Joshua Reynolds - John Murray, 4th Earl of Dunmore - PG 2895 - National Galleries of Scotland.jpg|''John Murray, Earl of Dunmore'', [[National Gallery of Scotland]]
File:Joshua Reynolds - Lady Frances Finch - Google Art Project.jpg|''Lady Frances Finch, Countess of Dartmouth'' (c.1781-1782)
File:William (Thomas) Beckford.jpg|''[[Portrait of William Beckford]]'', (1782)
File:John Stuart, 3rd Earl of Bute, by Joshua Reynolds.jpg|''[[John Stuart, 3rd Earl of Bute]]'' (1773)
File:Sir Joshua Renyolds - Richard Peers Symons, M.P. (Later Sr Richard Peers Symons, Baronet) - Google Art Project.jpg|''Sir Richard Peers Symons, Baronet'' (1770-1771)
File:Joshua Reynolds (1723-1792) - Sir Charles Davers (1737–1806), 6th Bt, MP - 851781 - National Trust.jpg|''[[Sir Charles Davers, 6th Baronet|Sir Charles Davers, 6th Bt]]'' (1773)
File:Joshua Reynolds - Mrs John Hale.jpg|''Mrs John Hale'' (1762-1764)
File:Theodosia Meade, Countess of Clanwilliam (Miss Hawkins-Magill) by Joshua Reynolds (colour), 50 x 40 inches.jpg|''[[Theodosia Meade, Countess of Clanwilliam]]'' (Miss Hawkins-Magill)
</gallery>

==See also==
{{Portal|Biography}}
*[[English art]]
*[[Grand manner]]
*[[Mary Nesbitt]], 18th-century courtesan who began her career as Reynolds' model.
*[[Martin Postle]], an expert on Joshua Reynolds

==References==
{{Reflist}}

===Referenced books===
* James Boswell, ''Life of Johnson'' (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2008).
* Charles Robert Leslie and Tom Taylor, ''Life and Times of Sir Joshua Reynolds'' (London: John Murray, 1865, 2 volumes).
* [[Ian McIntyre]], ''Joshua Reynolds. The Life and Times of the First President of the Royal Academy'' (London: Allen Lane, 2003).
* Martin Postle, [http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/23429 "Reynolds, Sir Joshua (1723–1792)"], ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'', Oxford University Press, 2004; online edn, October 2009. Retrieved 24 September 2010.

===Further reading===
* J. Blanc, ''Les Écrits de Sir Joshua Reynolds'' (''Théorie de l'art (1400–1800) / Art Theory (1400–1800)'', 4), Turnhout, 2016, {{ISBN|978-2-503-54337-6}}
*John Barrell, ''The Political Theory of Painting from Reynolds to Hazlitt'' (1986).
*A. Graves and W. V. Cronin, ''A History of the Works of Sir Joshua Reynolds'' (1899–1901, 4 volumes).
*F. W. Hilles, ''The Literary Career of Sir Joshua Reynolds'' (1936).
*Derek Hudson, ''Sir Joshua Reynolds: A Personal Study'' (1958).
*{{cite book |title=Sir Joshua Reynolds |url=http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/19009 |first=Estelle M. |last=Hurll |author-link=Estelle May Hurll}}
*J. Ingamells and [[John Edgcumbe|J. Edgcumbe]] (eds), ''The Letters of Sir Joshua Reynolds'' (2000).
*Alex Kidson, ''George Romney. 1734–1802'' (2002)
*E. Malone (ed.), ''The Works of Sir Joshua Reynolds'' (1798, 3 volumes).
*D. Mannings, ''Sir Joshua Reynolds PRA, 1723–92'' (1992).
*D. Mannings, ''Sir Joshua Reynolds: A Complete Catalogue of his Paintings: The Subject Pictures Catalogued by Martin Postle'' (New Haven and London, 2000)
*H. Mount (ed.), ''Sir Joshua Reynolds, A Journey to Flanders and Holland'' (1996)
*J. Northcote, ''Memoirs of Sir Joshua Reynolds, knt.'' (1813–15).
*J. Northcote, ''The Life of Sir Joshua Reynolds'' (1818, 2nd edition, 2 volumes).
*Martin Postle (ed.), ''Joshua Reynolds: The Creation of Celebrity'' (London: [[Tate]], 2005). {{ISBN|1-85437-564-4}}
*Martin Postle, ''Sir Joshua Reynolds: The Subject Pictures'' (1995).
*Martin Postle, ''Drawings of Joshua Reynolds''.
*R. Prochno, ''Joshua Reynolds'' (1990).
*Gerhard Charles Rump, ''George Romney (1734–1802). Zur Bildform der bürgerlichen Mitte in der Englischen Neoklassik'' (1974)
*S. Smiles (ed.), ''Sir Joshua Reynolds: The Acquisition of Genius'' (2009).
* [[Jenny Uglow|Uglow, Jenny]], "Big Talkers" (review of [[Leo Damrosch]], ''The Club: Johnson, Boswell, and the Friends Who Shaped an Age'', Yale University Press, 473 pp.), ''[[The New York Review of Books]]'', vol. LXVI, no. 9 (23 May 2019), pp.&nbsp;26–28.
*E. K. Waterhouse, ''Reynolds'' (1941).
*E. K. Waterhouse, ''Reynolds'' (1973).
*''Joshua Reynolds, Discourses on Art'' (London, 1778); ed. R. R. Wark (New Haven and London, 1975)
*N. Penny (ed.), Reynolds, exhibition catalogue, Paris Grand Palais, London, Royal Academy, 1986
*Werner Busch, "Hogarth's and Reynolds' Porträt des Schauspielers Garrick", in: ''Englishness. Beiträge zur englischen Kunst des 18. Jahrhunderts von Hogath bis Romney'', Berlin and Munich: Deutscher Kunstverlag, 2010, pp.&nbsp;57–76

==External links==
{{wikisource author}}
{{wikiquote}}
{{Commons category|Joshua Reynolds}}
* {{DNB Cite|wstitle=Reynolds, Joshua}}
* {{Art UK bio}}
* [https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Wikidata:WikiProject_sum_of_all_paintings/Creator/Joshua_Reynolds List of paintings by or after Reynolds in Wikidata]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20090430113606/http://www.porteliot.co.uk/features.php Port Eliot House, home of the Earl of St. Germans contains many fine works by Reynolds, including a rare view of Plymouth]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20080609130212/http://www.plymouth.gov.uk/museumexhibitionsdisplays 'Sir Joshua Reynolds: The Acquisition of Genius' exhibition at Plymouth City Museum and Art Gallery - 21 November 2009 to 20 February 2010]
* [http://www.marquesdecollections.fr/detail.cfm/marque/9371 Frits Lugt, ''Les marques de collections de dessins & d'estampes'', 1921 and its Supplement 1956, online edition]
*[https://waddesdon.org.uk/joshua-reynolds/ Sir Joshua Reynolds at Waddesdon Manor]
* {{ws|[[s:The Easter Gift/The Nativity|The Nativity]]}}, engraved by [[Charles Warren (engraver)|Ambrose William Warren]] for The Easter Gift, 1832, with a poetical illustration by [[Letitia Elizabeth Landon]]

===Collections===
* [http://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/artists/sir-joshua-reynolds The National Gallery: Sir Joshua Reynolds]
* [http://www.nationalgalleries.org/collection/online_az/4:322/?initial=R&artistId=4423&artistName=Sir%20Joshua%20Reynolds&submit=1 Works in the National Galleries of Scotland] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120417222450/http://www.nationalgalleries.org/collection/online_az/4:322/?initial=R&artistId=4423&artistName=Sir%20Joshua%20Reynolds&submit=1 |date=17 April 2012 }}
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20130504020841/http://www.liverpoolmuseums.org.uk/online/featuredartists/reynolds/ Liverpoolmuseums.org.uk]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20171203153829/http://www.gac.culture.gov.uk/artist.aspx?id=112498 GAC.culture.gov.uk]
* [http://www.artcyclopedia.com/artists/reynolds_sir_joshua.html Artcyclopedia: Sir Joshua Reynolds]
* [http://www.npg.org.uk/collections/search/person.php?LinkID=mp03755&role=art National Portrait Gallery Collection]
* [http://www.abcgallery.com/R/reynolds/reynolds.html Sir Joshua Reynolds at Olga's Gallery]
* [http://yalepress.yale.edu/yupbooks/book.asp?isbn=0300085338 ''Sir Joshua Reynolds, A Complete Catalogue of His Paintings''] (book-bound)

===Electronic editions===
* {{Gutenberg author | id=44392| name=Joshua Reynolds}}
* {{FadedPage|id=Reynolds, Joshua|name=Joshua Reynolds|author=yes}}
* {{Internet Archive author |sname=Joshua Reynolds |sopt=t}}

{{s-start}}
{{s-court}}
{{s-bef|before=[[Allan Ramsay (artist)|Allan Ramsay]]}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[Principal Painter in Ordinary]] to the King| years=1784–1792}}
{{s-aft|after=[[Thomas Lawrence]]}}
{{s-culture}}
{{s-new}}
{{s-ttl |title=[[Royal Academy#Presidents (P.R.A.)|President of the Royal Academy]] |years=1768–1792}}
{{s-aft |after=[[Benjamin West]]}}
{{s-end}}
{{Joshua Reynolds}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Reynolds, Joshua}}
[[Category:English portrait painters]]
[[Category:1723 births]]
[[Category:1792 deaths]]
[[Category:Artist authors]]
[[Category:Fellows of the Royal Society]]
[[Category:People from Plympton]]
[[Category:Principal Painters in Ordinary]]
[[Category:Royal Academicians]]
[[Category:Streathamites]]
[[Category:Knights Bachelor]]
[[Category:Burials at St Paul's Cathedral]]
[[Category:18th-century English painters]]
[[Category:18th-century English male artists]]
[[Category:English male painters]]
[[Category:Sibling artists]]
[[Category:Waddesdon Manor]]
[[Category:Fellows of the Royal Society of Arts]]