North Gallery Labels PLYMOUTH CITY MUSEUM AND ART GALLERY SIR JOSHUA REYNOLDS THE ACQUISITION OF GENIUS Introduction Self-Portrait Shading the Eyes c.1747-9 Sir Joshua Reynolds Oil on canvas This is the only known self-portrait which shows Reynolds as a practising artist, holding his palette, brushes and mahl stick. His presentation with eyes shaded owes a debt to Rembrandt, an artist Reynolds greatly admired. He is fashionably dressed in a blue silk waistcoat and an informal frock-coat with a velvet collar whose plain sleeves are a practical concession to the demands of painting. In the early nineteenth century the picture was cut down, resulting in this oblong canvas. National Portrait Gallery, London . Section 1 / Early Years: Plympton to Plymouth Dock A View of Plymouth Sound c.1748 Sir Joshua Reynolds Oil on canvas This landscape, looking over the Sound from Cattedown, has long been attributed to the young Reynolds before he left Devon for Italy in 1749. It was exhibited at the British Institution in 1823 and recorded as a Reynolds in several nineteenth-century accounts of his works. The Trustees of the Port Eliot Estate Plympton Grammar School Samuel Prout (1783-1852) Oil on canvas Plympton Grammar School was completed in 1671 and still stands today. Funded by the charitable estate of a local nobleman Elize Hele, it served the needs of local parish boys, but as the teaching was so good, the local gentry sent their sons, too. The Reverend Samuel Reynolds took over as master in March 1715, and remained at the school for 30 years, during which time Joshua was also educated at the school. Plympton Grammar School continues today on a new site as Hele’s School. Plymouth City Museum and Art Gallery 2 The Reverend Samuel Reynolds c.1746 Sir Joshua Reynolds Oil on canvas Father of Sir Joshua Reynolds, the Reverend Samuel Reynolds (1680-1745) was master of Plympton Grammar School. He was a man with many friends among the local professional classes and supported Reynolds through his apprenticeship in London. This painting is thought to have been created as a posthumous tribute to Samuel Reynolds, who died in 1745. The profile arrangement, echoing classical portrait medallions, was widely used at this time to portray scholars and intellectuals. Plymouth City Museum and Art Gallery: Cottonian Collection Frances Reynolds 1746 Sir Joshua Reynolds Oil on canvas Reynolds’ younger sister, Frances (1729-1807) was seventeen when this portrait was painted. After their father’s death in 1745, Frances, Joshua and their older sister Elizabeth moved to Plymouth Dock (Devonport). Reynolds may have painted this portrait to advertise his Dock studio. Frances became a painter, wrote poetry and in 1785 published a book on aesthetics. From 1753 she was Reynolds’ housekeeper in London, but they were temperamentally ill-suited and in the 1770s Reynolds turned her out. Plymouth City Museum and Art Gallery: Cottonian Collection 3 Section 2 / Local Patronage: The Parkers of Saltram The Admiral John Byng 1749 Thomas Hudson (1701-1779) Oil on canvas Reynolds trained with Thomas Hudson in the early 1740s and this picture is exhibited to show something of Hudson’s portrait style at the time. The Honourable John Byng (1704-57) had risen to the rank of Admiral largely through his connections rather than his ability. In 1756 he failed to relieve Menorca, which was under French blockade. Recalled to England, he was court- martialled for neglecting his duty and executed by firing squad on the quarterdeck of his flagship. National Maritime Museum, Greenwich, London John Patch c.1717 William Gandy (c.1655-1729) Oil on canvas In the 1740s Reynolds studied William Gandy’s paintings in Devon collections, admiring particularly his treatment of the head. Gandy had moved to Devon in about 1699, painting local worthies in Exeter and Plymouth, but he failed to prosper. Here the Exeter surgeon John Patch (1691-1746) is shown undertaking a dissection of the arm. His son Thomas Patch became an artist, and his Caricature Group in Florence is also on show in this exhibition. Collection of the Royal Devon and Exeter NHS Foundation Trust 4 The Edgcumbes of Mount Edgcumbe Richard Edgcumbe c.1748 Sir Joshua Reynolds Oil on canvas Richard Edgcumbe (1680-1758), 1st Baron Edgcumbe, was an important early patron of Reynolds. He had two sons, both of whom became personal friends of Reynolds. The elder, Richard ‘Dick’ Edgcumbe (1716-61), exhibited here, was a gifted amateur painter and poet but after he left Eton in 1732, gambling overtook him and dominated the rest of his life. In 1742 he succeeded his father, now ennobled, as MP for Plympton Erle, the family’s pocket borough. Mount Edgcumbe House Collection George Edgcumbe 1748 Sir Joshua Reynolds Oil on canvas Dick Edgcumbe’s younger brother, George Edgcumbe (1720-95) was a close friend of Reynolds. He served in the navy in the 1740s and 1750s and is shown here in his Captain’s uniform. In March 1748 he captured a French East-Indiaman and brought it into Plymouth. His ship, the Salisbury and the Mount Edgcumbe battery can be seen behind him. This portrait was commissioned by the Plympton Corporation, whose parliamentary borough was controlled by the Edgcumbes. National Maritime Museum, Greenwich, London 5 White's Club Design Richard Edgcumbe Line engraving Richard Edgcumbe was a member of White’s Club, in London, where conversation, drinking and gambling were prized. In 1756, with his friends Horace Walpole, George Selwyn and George Williams, he designed a humorous coat of arms, celebrating their activities at the Club. Reynolds’ portraits of Richard Edgcumbe and of Walpole are on display in this room. Edgcumbe, Selwyn and Williams are depicted together in Reynolds’ contemporary painting A Conversation (aka The Out of Town Party) hanging nearby. The Provost and Fellows at Eton College, Windsor The Orchards of Harland Abbey Mrs Orchard 1771/2 Sir Joshua Reynolds Oil on panel Bettina Orchard (1738–1833) was the daughter of Sir Robert Lawley, 4t Bt. Canwell, Staffordshire. She married Paul Orchard (1739–1812) on 17 July 1764. Paul Orchard also commissioned from Reynolds a portrait of himself and a posthumous portrait of his father. On loan from Hartland Abbey 6 The Parkers of Saltram John Parker and Therese Parker 1779 Sir Joshua Reynolds Oil on canvas This portrait of John Parker III and his sister Therese II, was considered by Reynolds to be one of his most successful depictions of childhood. Aged seven and four, the children had lost their mother four years earlier and were being raised at Saltram by their father, their aunt and their uncle, Frederick Robinson, who commissioned this picture. John places his arm protectively around his sister, a gesture Reynolds borrowed from paintings of the infant Christ and Saint John the Baptist. Saltram, The Morley Collection (accepted in lieu of tax by H.M.Treasury and transferred to the National Trust in 1957).National Trust Property: Saltram John Parker II ?1770 Sir Joshua Reynolds Oil on canvas A great friend and supporter of Reynolds, John Parker II is shown here as a country gentleman, taking a pause from the day’s shooting, an activity in which Reynolds joined him when visiting Saltram in 1770. Parker also loved to race horses, and his stable interested him far more than the cosmopolitan world of art and literature – he left that to his wife Lady Therese Parker and to Reynolds. Saltram, The Morley Collection (accepted in lieu of tax by H.M.Treasury and transferred to the National Trust in 1957) National Trust Property: Saltram 7 Therese Parker with her son 1770-75 Sir Joshua Reynolds Oil on canvas Therese Robinson (1744-75), was the daughter of the Whig diplomat Thomas Robinson, 1st Baron Grantham and was the Empress of Austria’s god-daughter. She married John Parker in 1769 and the couple had one son, John (1772-1840), and a daughter, Therese (1775-1856). Therese was very interested in the arts and was the driving force behind the improvements at Saltram. Reynolds shows her in contemplative pose, a tribute to her intellectual gifts. While the sittings for the picture were under way, the Parkers decided to include the infant John. As Therese noted, young John ‘made such faces it was impossible to do any thing, however... tho’ he sat but an hour you would be astonish’d to see how strong a likeness it is, [Reynolds] has caught the Character of the Child so exactly that I am quite delighted with it.’ Saltram, The Morley Collection (accepted in lieu of tax by H.M.Treasury and transferred to the National Trust in 1957). National Trust Property: Saltram Drawing of Saltram Samuel Prout (1783-1852) Pencil Plymouth City Museum and Art Gallery 8 Cased items: Sketch for Chapel at Saltram Anonymous Sent by Anne Robinson, Saltram to her brother 2nd Lord Grantham, in Spain, September 1776 Pencil The chapel was converted from an outbuilding in memory of Therese Parker, who had died at the end of 1775 shortly after giving birth to her daughter. The drawing underlines the fact of her premature death, which much affected Reynolds who wrote a heartfelt obituary. By arrangement with West Yorkshire Archive Service Sketch of a proposed Castle for Saltram c.1770 Thomas Robinson Pencil By arrangement with West Yorkshire Archive Service 9 Letter from Reynolds to Thomas, 2nd Baron Grantham, HM Ambassador to Spain 20th July 1773 Sir Joshua Reynolds Manuscript This is a lengthy and highly interesting letter from Reynolds. It describes Reynolds' Oxford Doctorate, revealing anecdotes of George III and the Prince of Wales, plans by Reynolds and other artists to decorate St Paul's cathedral, and Reynolds' impending mayoralty of Plympton, 'one of the finest towns in the world' in the King's words.