Sir Joshua Reynolds
English, 1723 - 1792Boy with a Drawing in His Hand, n.d.
Not on view
Oil on canvas
Dimensions30 1/8 × 25 3/16 in. (76.5 × 64 cm)
Image: 37 1/2 × 35 1/8 in. (95.3 × 89.2 cm)
Gift of Mrs. C. S. Harding Mott, 1993.10
Born the son of an English cleric in 1723, Sir Joshua Reynolds became a writer, an art collector, and one of the foremost portrait painters in England. He studied portraiture as an adolescent in London and then sailed to the Mediterranean in 1749. After three years of traveling in Italy, he returned to London where his work started to attract the attention of prominent patrons. When the Royal Academy of Arts was instituted in 1768, Reynolds was elected its first president, earning his knighthood later that year. He is credited with more than two thousand portraits, recognizable by their rich color, strong lighting, and free handling of paint. His ability to enhance the dignity of his sitters by using classical poses and to present a realistic portrayal of their character accounts for the continued popularity of his work.
