BY
RANDALL DAVIES
CONTAINING SIXTEEN EXAMPLES IN COLOUR
OF THE MASTER’S WORK
LONDON
ADAM AND CHARLES BLACK
1913
PRINTED AT
THE BALLANTYNE PRESS
LONDON
PREFACE
The chief authorities on the life and work of Reynolds are James Northcote, R.A., his most successful pupil; Henry William Beechey, and C. R. Leslie, R.A., each of whom produced a two-volume work on the subject. The first of these appeared in 1819, seventeen years after Sir Joshua’s death; the next in 1835, and the last, edited by Tom Taylor, in 1865.
Besides these capital works there are memoirs by Joseph Farington, R.A., by Edmund Malone, by William Cotton, by William Mason, and by Allan Cunningham in his “Lives of the British Painters,” all of which appeared in the earlier half of the last century.
From such an abundance of material, to say nothing of modern publications, it is hardly possible to collect everything that is of value within the limits of a short memoir. Only such points as are in themselves essential, or seem significant in relation to the enormous influence of Reynolds on his contemporaries, has it been attempted to dwell upon.
R. D.
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
| [1.] | Miss Nelly O’Brien (1763) | Wallace Collection, London | [Frontispiece] |
| Facing p. | |||
| [2.] | Captain Orme (1761) | National Gallery, London | [2] |
| [3.] | The Strawberry Girl (1773) | Wallace Collection, London | [4] |
| [4.] | Lady Cockburn and Her Children (1773) | National Gallery, London | [6] |
| [5.] | Miss Bowles (1775) | Wallace Collection, London | [8] |
| [6.] | Portrait of Two Gentlemen (1778) | National Gallery, London | [12] |
| [7.] | Mrs. Carnac (1778) | Wallace Collection, London | [16] |
| [8.] | Lady and Child (1780 ?) | National Gallery, London | [20] |
| [9.] | Admiral Keppel (1780) | “ “ “ | [22] |
| [10.] | Mrs. Hoare and Child (1783 ?) | Wallace Collection, London | [24] |
| [11.] | Mrs. Robinson (“Perdita”) (1784 ?) | “ “ “ | [28] |
| [12.] | Lord Heathfield (1787) | National Gallery, London | [36] |
| [13.] | The Age of Innocence (1788) | “ “ “ | [44] |
| [14.] | Mrs. Braddyl (1788 or 1789) | Wallace Collection, London | [46] |
| [15.] | Mrs. Siddons as the Tragic Muse (1789) | Dulwich Gallery | [48] |
| [16.] | Mrs. Nesbit with a Dove | Wallace Collection, London | [52] |