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Sir Joshua Reynolds 1723 - 1792

Joshua Reynolds Sir was born on July 16, 1723 in Plymouth Earls England, and died at age 68 years old on February 23, 1792 in London. Joshua Reynolds was buried at St Paul's Cathedral, St Paul's Church Yard in City of London, Greater London UK. Family, friend, or fan, this family history biography is for you to remember Sir Joshua Reynolds.

Joshua Reynolds Sir

July 16, 1723

Plymouth Earls, England

February 23, 1792

London, England

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Sir Joshua Reynolds Joshua Reynolds (1723 - 1792)

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Joshua Reynolds Sir's History: 1723 - 1792

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07/16

1723

Birthday

July 16, 1723

Birthdate

Plymouth Earls England

Birthplace

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02/23

1792

Death

February 23, 1792

Death date

Unknown
Cause of death

London England
Death location

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Gravesite & Burial

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Funeral date
St Paul's Cathedral, St Paul's Church Yard in City of London, Greater London UK
Burial location
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Sir Joshua Reynolds lived 4 years shorter than the average family member when died at the age of 68.

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Sir Joshua Reynolds lived 4 years shorter than the average family member when died at the age of 68.

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2 Memories, Stories & Photos about Joshua

Helen Smith

12 favorites

07/11/2021

Sir Joshua Reynolds was not related to the early Reynolds family in the USA

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Helen Smith

12 favorites

07/11/2021

Sir Joshua Reynolds

Sir Joshua Reynolds was born on 16 July 1723 at Plympton St Maurice, also known as Plympton Earle, Plympton Earls, and Plympton Morris, the seventh child of Samuel Reynolds and Theophilia nee Potter. He was born in the Rectory of what is now known as the Old Grammar School, Plympton, Devon, England. He received a solid education from his father; this of course included Latin. Another student at the School was John Parker, who was to become the 1st Baron Boringdon, Joshua and John would become lifelong friends. He also became friends with the Mudge family and was influenced by Zachariah Mudge. (Joshua would paint portraits of both men).

In March 1734, he got ill with smallpox, but survived. Samuel Reynolds's major passion was buying books, and Joshua read widely from his father's library. Joshua also copied prints from one of his father's books Jacob Cats "Book of Emblems". Another book in his father's library was "An Essay on the Theory of Painting" by Jonathan Richardson. This book would be the first great introduction to the craft of painting for Joshua.

According to a family tradition of the Edgcumbe family, when Joshua was about 12 he was on a visit to the Edgcumbe family, at Mount Edgcumbe, when during the church service, it was noticed that Joshua and Richard Edgcumbe, the son of Richard Edgcumbe, the 1st Baron Edgcumbe, were misbehaving. When called to task about their bad behavior, Richard explained that Joshua had drawn a good likeness of the vicar on his thumbnail, and they both could not stop laughing. After some punishment, young Joshua otherwise spent his time well at Mount Edgcumbe. He was allowed to use the boathouse at Cremyll beach as his first "art studio"; he used some paint and some sailcloth to paint his first pictures.

Joshua did not know at the time, but he was already building influential connections with the Parker, Mudge and Edgcumbe families.

By the time Joshua was 14, a family friend suggested to Samuel that Joshua should be sent to London to become a painter, but nothing came of this suggestion. As Joshua was approaching his 17th year, Samuel was in two minds about what the future might hold for Joshua: one was for Joshua to become an apothecary, and the other a painter. When Samuel asked his son what he would prefer, Joshua is said to have replied "I would rather be an apothecary than an ordinary painter, but if I could be bound to an eminent master, I would choose the latter."

On the 13 October 1740, Joshua traveled to London; five days later Joshua was placed as a pupil under Thomas Hudson. The fee was 120 Pounds: half the fee was paid by Samuel and the other half by Mary Palmer, Joshua's older married sister. So on the 18th day of October, St Luke's day, the patron saint of painters, Joshua was on his way to become a painter.

At the end of his second year with Thomas Hudson, this being halfway through his apprenticeship, Joshua according to the letters he sent home was extremely happy becoming a painter. Then something happened, or may have gone wrong, in the summer of 1743, Joshua's articles with Hudson was terminated. The exact cause for this is still unknown. Whatever the cause was, Joshua remained on good terms with Hudson.

Joshua returned to Devon, and set up a studio in Plymouth Dock, now Devonport. Joshua was charging 3 pounds and 10 shillings for a bust portrait. His style was still much in the way of the likes of Kneller, Richardson and Hudson. Joshua was, however, doing quite well for himself, he had done 20 portraits by the end of the year.

By the end of 1744, Joshua returned to London, according to the letters of Samuel, Hudson promised to introduce Joshua to a Club composed of the most famous men of their profession; this was most likely the group of painters, artists and literary men who often frequented the Old Slaughter's Coffee House. Joshua had lodgings in St. Martin's Lane, which was near the St. Martin's Lane Academy. Joshua would have been exposed to new ideas and styles in painting.

Samuel Reynolds died on Christmas Day 1745. Joshua returned to Devon to be with his family. His mother went to live with his married sister Mary, and Joshua set up home in Plymouth Dock with his two unmarried sisters, Elizabeth and Frances. Joshua was to stay there until the spring of 1749. It is during this time that Joshua did a number of family portraits; the portrait of his father was most probably done after his father's death. He also painted the Edgcumbe family, unfortunately none of the Edgcumbe paintings except for one survived as they were destroyed during WW2. Joshua was now developing a style all his own.

Early in 1749, a naval officer, Augustus Keppel, had been given a diplomatic mission - he had been appointed to the chief command of the Mediterranean Fleet. However his ship the Centurion, was damaged and he stopped at Plymouth for repairs. While waiting for repairs, he visited Lord Edgcumbe, who was one of his friends, at Mount Edgcumbe, where by chance, Joshua was also visiting. Keppel took a liking to Joshua and offered him a passage to the Mediterranean. On the 11 May 1749, the Centurion weighed anchor. Joshua was on his way to Rome.

While with the ship he visited Lisbon, Cadiz, Algiers, and Minorca, Spain. It was at Minorca that Keppel and Joshua parted ways, Keppel to continue diplomatic duties and Joshua to continue his journey to Rome. A life time friendship between the two had just begun. (Joshua would paint at least 6 portraits of Keppel, the first probably done in Port Mahon 1749, and the last in 1779). It was at Port Mahon, Minorca, that Joshua had an accident - he fell off a horse after riding it down a steep slope, and had some injuries to his face. While recovering Joshua wrote to a young woman, Miss Weston, that because of the accident "my lips are spoiled for kissing" Joshua signed it "Your Slave". Joshua promised to write again when he reached Rome. From Minorca he travelled to Livorno in Italy, and to Florence and in the middle of April 1750, Joshua arrived in Rome.

Lord Edgcumbe suggested to Joshua that he study under Pompeo Batoni [1] For whatever reason Joshua rejected this idea. Joshua did what most young artists did in Rome at the time: view the great masters, take sketches and notes. (There are 9 surviving notebooks of his from this period; as of 2003, 4 are in private hands, the others are in museums in England, and the USA.) It was during one of the Roman winters that Joshua would catch a cold that would impair his hearing for the rest of his life.

He received a letter from Miss Weston in early 1751, Joshua wrote back saying that he would be leaving Rome soon and would go to Florence and other parts of Italy (it seems that this was the last correspondence he had with Miss Weston). However Joshua stayed another year in Rome, then slowly made his way back to England. On 3rd May 1752, he left Rome, visiting Venice, Florence and Paris. He arrived back in London on 16th October 1752. Joshua, while in Rome, had learnt to speak, to read and write Italian. Joshua headed home to Devon, to catch up with family and friends.

By the early weeks of 1753, Joshua, went back to London and he once more moved into St. Martin's Lane, bringing his younger unmarried sister Frances as his housekeeper. He soon moved to Great Newport Street and achieved rapid success , Lord Edgcumbe recommended Joshua to some of his fellow peers; others were soon lining up to get their portraits painted. In 1755, it would have cost you 12 guineas for a head portrait, or 48 guineas for a full portrait done by Joshua.

It was probably in 1756, that he first met Samuel Johnson ; this was going to be the beginning of another lifetime friendship. Reynolds would paint Johnson 5 times. In 1760, Joshua moved into a large house, Wick House, on the west side of Leicester Fields (now Leicester Square). By 1761 Joshua could charge 80 Guineas for a full portrait. He worked long hours in his studio, rarely taking a break. Joshua had many friends from London's artistic and literary community: Dr Samuel Johnson, Oliver Goldsmith, Edmund Burke, Giuseppe Baretti, (He was tried for murder but acquitted), Henry Thrale, David Garrick, and artist Angelica Kauffman, to name a few.

In the summer of 1762, Joshua took a rare holiday: he traveled with Samuel Johnson to Devon, returning for the first time in nearly 10 years, where he caught up with his two married sisters, Mary Palmer and Elizabeth Johnson in Great Torrington. It was here that we learn that Samuel Johnson had a fondness for pancakes; he managed to eat 13 of them in one sitting. Joshua and Samuel arrived back in London on 26 September 1762.

Joshua and Samuel Johnson were instrumental in the founding of "The Club". It was founded in 1764 and met in a suite of rooms in the Turks Head at 9 Gerrard Street. Original members besides Joshua Reynolds and Samuel Johnson included Edmund Burke, Bennet Langton, Topham Beauclerk, Oliver Goldsmith, Anthony Chamier, John Hawkins, and Christopher Nugent, to be joined by David Garrick, James Boswell, and Richard Brinsley Butler Sheridan. "The Club" met every Monday evening for supper and conversation. In later years, it met fortnightly during Parliamentary sessions. In 1783 "The Club" moved to Sackville Street.

Reynolds was a member of the Royal Society of Arts, and helped found the Society of Artists of Great Britain, and in 1768 became the first president of the Royal Academy of Arts, and he remained so until his death. In 1769, he was knighted by George III. The foundation by the King of The Royal Academy dates from 10 December 1768. The Schools were opened on 2 January 1769. Joshua Reynolds gave the inaugural speech, which formed the first of his Seven Discourses on Art. The other six were given by him, at the next six annual meetings, the last being on 10 December 1776.

In 1784, the position for the Principal Painter in Ordinary to the King, became vacant. Both Thomas Gainsborough and Joshua wanted it; Joshua threatened to resign from the presidency of the Royal Academy if he did not get it. Gainsborough gave in. After fighting so hard to attain the position, he soon found out he did not actually like the position, grumbling to several friends, and to the Bishop of St Asaph,"it is a 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."

In late September 1791, Joshua lost the sight in his left eye. From then on, Joshua's health slowly deteriorated until he died on 23 February 1792, between the hours of 8 and 9 in the evening at age 68 at Wick House, Richmond, London, England. An autopsy found that Sir Joshua had died of chronic liver failure. King George III directed that the body of Sir Joshua Reynolds should lie in state at the Royal-Academy rooms, in Somerset House. His body was therefore placed in one of the halls, which was draped in black, and was lighted by wax tapers in silver sconces. The funeral took place on the following Saturday after his death, at about noon. Three dukes, two marquises, three earls, a viscount, and a baron acted as pall-bearers at his state funeral in St Paul’s Cathedral.

Joshua was known to experiment with the pigments he used in his paintings; unfortunately, quite a number of his portraits have suffered for this over the years. Some of his portraits have faded, odd coloured faces or bubbly crusts, paint flaking off. There is a story about a young artist John Powell: Joshua allowed him to borrow a portrait, the portrait got accidentally knocked, and the paint on parts of the face and hands just dropped off the canvas.

So much is not known about Joshua's affairs of the heart, we know that he was enamored with Miss Weston, when he was in his twenties. Speculation would swirl around him for years, and still does. According to some second hand stories, Joshua is said to have proposed to at least one woman and got a refusal. Some researchers including Ian McIntyre believe that Joshua had affairs with some of the women he painted. Elizabeth Robinson tried matchmaking him up to Frances Burney While Dan Cruickshank believes that Joshua visited ladies of ill repute - to put it politely. Joshua said himself that any woman he did like had grown indifferent to him. One thing is certain is that he never married and had no children.

Of his siblings that survived well into adulthood, Frances was his housekeeper for many years, until they had a falling out, which occurred sometime in 1779, and Joshua sent her packing. His sister Elizabeth married William Johnson, and the relationship with her was cordial until William borrowed a large sum of money from Joshua and never paid it back, and then William deserted his family and went to live with another woman. Elizabeth did not approve of Joshua painting on a Sunday and when Joshua was willing to accept his nephew Samuel Johnson as a student, Elizabeth refused, as she did not want Samuel painting on a Sunday. The closest relationship he had was Mary Palmer, wife of John Palmer, the sister that had helped pay for his tuition with Thomas Hudson. Two of her daughters would be invited by Joshua to live with him, Theophiia and Mary. He would paint them both. Joshua would make Mary his main beneficiary in his will.

Research Notes
Michael Edward Ruthven Ashworth, he put all the information about the Palmer and Reynolds families on to the Peerage, he was another collateral relative of Sir Joshua Reynolds, the information came from the works of Frederic Thomas Colby and later information from a collaboration of three "Cousins" Unfortunately as this was in the late 1980's, none of them thought too much about sources, but as far as I know the information is correct, I have not found any mistakes yet.

Frederic Thomas Colby was actually wrong in attributing Mathew Potter as Sir Joshua Reynolds grandfather. It is one of the very few mistakes I have found with his work. He was a collateral relative of Sir Joshua Reynolds.

Sources

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+reynolds Pedigrees of five Devonshire families, Colby, Coplestone, Reynolds, Palmer and Johnson Page 12]
Ian McIntyre's biography of "Joshua Reynolds: The Life and Times of the First President of the Royal Academy"
See Also:

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