'' (1788) Having shown an early interest in art, Reynolds was apprenticed in 1740 to the fashionable London portrait painter
Thomas Hudson, who like Reynolds had been born in Devon. where he spent two years, studying the Old Masters and acquiring a taste for the "Grand Style".
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. and Paris. He was accompanied by
Giuseppe Marchi, then aged about 17. Following his arrival in England in October 1752, Reynolds spent three months in Devon 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. 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, in whose portrait, according to
Nicholas Penny "bulk is brilliantly converted into power". 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. The clothing of Reynolds' sitters was usually painted by either one of his pupils, or the specialist
drapery painter Peter Toms.
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." Although not known principally for his landscapes, Reynolds did paint in this genre. He had an excellent vantage from his house,
Wick House, on
Richmond Hill, and painted the view in about 1780. '' (). 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,
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
his portrait of her for a portrait of him by Kauffman. Johnson said in 1778: "Reynolds is too much under [Charles James]
Fox and Burke at present. He is under the
Fox star and the
Irish constellation (meaning Burke). He is always under some planet". 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". It was founded in 1764 and met in a suite of rooms on the first floor of the Turks Head at 9
Gerrard Street, now marked by a plaque. Original members included Burke,
Bennet Langton,
Topham Beauclerk, Goldsmith,
Anthony Chamier,
Thomas Hawkins, and
Christopher Nugent, to be joined by Garrick,
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.
Royal Academy , . Showing, in situ, on the far wall Reynolds'
Frances Anne Crewe (Miss Greville), as St. Genevieve () 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
knighted by
George III, only the second English artist to be so honoured. 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'. 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".
Waddesdon Manor was amongst the historic houses that supported Sir Joshua Reynolds's influence at the academy, acknowledging how: . [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.
Lord Keppel '' (1779) In the
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 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".
Principal Painter in Ordinary to the King On 10 August 1784,
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". 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. 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".
John Constable said in the 1830s that it was "almost a history of the defence of Gibraltar". ==Later life==