Sir Joshua Reynolds - a painter in action

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Reynolds rose from humble origins to dominate the English art world of his day

Reynolds: Portraiture in Action by Mark Hallett

From provincial beginnings in Plympton, Devon, Sir Joshua Reynolds (1723–92) became one of 18th-century Britain’s most influential portrait painters. As the first president of the Royal Academy of Arts, he did more than anyone of his generation to raise the status of painting in Britain. Through his Discourses, delivered at the Academy, he critically influenced the theoretical ideas of his students and peers. He received commissions from the highest echelons of society, became Principal Painter to George III, and gained widespread fame through the mass distribution of prints after his work. Today, his paintings take pride of place in country houses, museums and galleries across the world, and have been the subject of numerous exhibitions and scholarly studies.

It seems fitting then, for a figure of such art historical clout, that Professor Mark Hallett’s monograph of Reynolds takes shape through this handsome and sizeable tome. Over the course of nearly 500 pages, Hallett paints a vivid picture of Reynolds’ persona, revealing how he used his social attributes to his professional advantage while negotiating interactions with both clients and fellow portrait painters in the lively milieu of the London art world. The author’s deep understanding of 18th-century social life shines through and makes this a compelling read – even for those coming to the subject for the very first time.

The complex interplay between classical tradition and progressive enlightenment thought, which so profoundly shaped the cultural character of the period in which Reynolds worked, is articulated in lucid and engaging terms. Indeed, the perceptive way in which Hallett describes some of Reynolds’ best-known portraits, and situates them within the wider culture of their time, truly allows their stories to come to life in fresh and exciting ways. The book’s subtitle – ‘Portraiture in Action’ – just as aptly describes the author’s dynamic style of interpretation as it does the paintings of which he writes.

What makes this work truly stand out from previous studies of the artist is the author’s sharp-eyed visual analysis. The way in which he encourages us to think about portraiture presents a challenge to both 18th- and 21st-century preconceptions about the genre. As he is keen to point out, the status of portraiture as an art form was continually disputed during Reynolds’ lifetime and the genre was regularly seen as subordinate to other, more highly regarded forms of painting. Likewise, within the discipline of art history today, ‘this anxiety over the genre’s aesthetic status’ sometimes still exists. ‘Those who write about portraits’, Hallett suggests, ‘often spend far more time discussing the portrait’s subject than they do the portrait itself’.

In contrast, this book painstakingly unpicks and makes visible the inner workings and pictorial nuances of Reynolds’ work. It illuminates a multitude of pre-existing images that the artist meticulously studied and sought to integrate into his own practice in meaningful ways. From Michelangelo and Rembrandt, to Nicolas Poussin and Anthony van Dyck,  Hallett shows us how Reynolds’ knowledge and emulation of the old masters allowed him to elevate the status of his sitters, his own paintings, and the reputation of British portraiture as a whole. Some of Reynolds’ most influential sources are revealed through illustrations of studies from his Italian sketchbooks. As Hallett notes, ‘such drawings suggest the extent to which Reynolds was pictorially dredging the contents of the history paintings he encountered on his travels’.

The book is published for the Paul Mellon Centre for Studies in British Art by Yale University Press, and maintains the institution’s fine reputation for producing lavishly illustrated works. Its publication is timely, coinciding with the culmination of a major research project organized by the Wallace Collection   in collaboration with the National Gallery. Focusing on the technical aspects of Reynolds’ work, this project has demonstrated how the artist’s pictorial experimentation was echoed in his innovative use of materials.

The findings of the research project form the focus of the Wallace Collection’s current exhibition, ‘Joshua Reynolds: Experiments in Paint’, which runs from until 17 June 2015. This exhibition is accompanied by a series of free lectures, for those interested in gaining a more in-depth understanding of some of the issues raised. A catalogue, co-edited by Mark Hallett, which examines the unconventional techniques and paint mixtures employed by the artist, should provide a fitting companion to the monograph under review here.

Reynolds: Portraiture in Action by Mark Hallett is published by the Paul Mellon Centre for Studies in British Art. ISBN: 9780300196979

The catalogue Joshua Reynolds: Experiments in Paint by Lucy Davis and Mark Hallett is published by Paul Holberton Publishing, 192pp., fully illustrated. ISBN 978-0900785757