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Joshua Reynolds: Biography and Creativity

Joshua Reynolds (1723-1792) for almost the entire XVIII century, develops and implements the principles of creating the ideal portrait. By the age of 45, he became so recognized as a master and theoretician of art that he was elected president of the Royal Academy. Joshua Reynolds tirelessly studies, acquiring knowledge in areas far from painting. After graduating from Oxford at 51, he painted his portrait in the mantle of a doctor of law.

Joshua Reynolds: Biography

Joshua was the third child of the Reverend Samuel Reynolds of Plympton, who worked in the college. The elder sister of his father, noticing the ability and attraction of the boy to paint, paid for his education in the studio of the portraitist T. Goodson in London, and then in Italy. Viscount Keppel, with whom he met, offered to go with him on a journey to the Mediterranean. On the way the ship visited Lisbon, Cadiz, Algeria. So Joshua Reynolds got to Rome. The beginning artist was decisively influenced by Michelangelo, Raphael, Titian, Veronese, Correggio and van Dyck.

First portrait

Returning to England in 1752 through Florence, Bologna and Paris, Joshua Reynolds settles in London. His sister Francis becomes his housekeeper, and the artist has already started work, which will immediately bring him greater fame. He wrote "Portrait of Admiral Keppel" in the pose of Apollo Belvedere (1753). The young Admiral is beautiful and slender, and his portrait is full of romance.

The left side is enveloped by a dense shadow, and on the right under a cloudy bright sky ships sway on waves of the sea. August Keppel - perfection itself: the right features, beautiful eyebrows broadening over big eyes, straight nose, lips, which slightly touched a smile. He threw the right graceful hand forward, and the second holds the hilt of the sword. The figure is not static, but full of dynamics. August Keppel is depicted against the background of rocks and a disturbing sea, with foamy crests of waves. Strikingly beautiful are the silvery-pink shades of the sky, the gleams of which fall on the waistcoat and the camisole of the admiral. I liked the portrait so much that I immediately began to receive orders.

Charming courtesan

Free and full of ease, which marks the work of the master in the sixties, a portrait of Nelly O'Brien. This is one of the favorite Reynolds models.

At this time, Nellie was the beloved of the viscount Bolinkbroke, who gave birth in 1764 to her son. The sitting figure of a young woman is depicted in close-up. Behind it are dense bushes, through which penetrate the rays of the sun. The light lays a glare on the figure of the model and a curly white dog that she holds in her hands, and the face hides in the shadow of the hat. It is this - quiet, pleasant, friendly - most of all it attracts attention.

Club

Working very much and spending time in his workshop, Reynolds was still a sociable person. To meet friends, customers, intellectuals, military and political figures, he founded the club in 1764. At first there were very few of them, but Sheridan also entered there, then this elite society grew to 35 people. And to this day on the building for his meetings there is a memorial plaque.

Royal Academy

Member of the Royal Society of Arts, the painter took up the organization of the Society of British Artists, and in 1768 became president of the Royal Academy. In it he lectured. There also took William Blake, who vehemently criticized the chairman. They were very different people - William Blake and Joshua Reynolds. Even the works of these authors differed in exactly the opposite directions, not to mention the vision and the depiction of the world. It was during these years that Reynolds became the chief artist of King George III after the death of Allan Ramsey.

The flowering of creativity

By this time, the painter-portraitist has almost abandoned allegories, and in the creation of images he puts his soul. He writes a portrait of actress Sarah Siddons in the form of a muse of tragedy.

Solved in golden brown tones, the portrait shows how the actress, resting in the armchair, draws inspiration from the predictions of the two siblings behind the model on either side of the chair.

He writes a custom portrait of Captain George Kussmeyker. This work amazes with its beauty and exceptionally delicate work.

Leaning back against the tree, in a riding suit is a young captain. The color of his horse is rich, brown, speaks of the animal's good endurance. The pose of the horse - it practically twists the tree - is amazing. No wonder they posed the artist 21 times! The portrait is unusually spectacular and romantic. The captain paid him considerable for that time money - 205 pounds and 10 guineas per frame.

Portrait of "Lady Elizabeth Delme with children" (1779)

The majestic young lady embraces two children. A furry dog is sitting by the feet. Compositional they represent a classical triangle, a very balanced figure. The painter in this reception was guided by "Raphael's Madonna with a Chip". And the background, drawn in brown tones, reminds both Titian and even Rembrandt.

Lady Delme is elegant and beautiful purely English beauty. Her face is oval in shape, and her eyes are with beautiful heavy eyelids. The hairstyle of the lady is high and slightly powdered. Her white dress is covered with a satin cloak of the color of a red rose. In a suit of the same color the baby is dressed, and on the girl, as well as on the mother, a white dress. The whole color scale of the picture is strictly balanced. This work can be called a majestic group portrait. This method was also used by Joshua Reynolds. Pictures of this type flatter to some extent customers, without departing, however, from a truthful image.

The historical paintings of the master are weaker than his portraits. But it was them by the orders of Catherine the Great and Prince Potemkin written by Joshua Reynolds. Pictures with the titles "The Infant Hercules Strangling the Serpents" (glorifies the victories of Russia), "Scipio's forbearance" (magnanimity) and "Cupid unleashing the belt of Venus" are in the Hermitage.

Autumn of life

By the age of 66, the artist began to get sick. He no longer sees with one eye and stops working. My beloved sister (and Reynolds and lived as a bachelor) is still acting as a housekeeper. Treatment of the eye with the help of bloodletting was unsuccessful. The general condition of the artist only worsened, and as a result he died on the 69th year of his life.

In 1903 he was placed a monument in the courtyard of the Royal Academy.

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