British 1723-1792 Sir Joshua Reynolds Locations Reynolds was born in Plympton, Devon, on 16 July 1723. As one of eleven children, and the son of the village school-master, Reynolds was restricted to a formal education provided by his father. He exhibited a natural curiosity and, as a boy, came under the influence of Zachariah Mudge, whose Platonistic philosophy stayed with him all his life. Showing an early interest in art, Reynolds was apprenticed in 1740 to the fashionable portrait painter Thomas Hudson, with whom he remained until 1743. From 1749 to 1752, he spent over two years in Italy, where he studied the Old Masters and acquired a taste for the "Grand Style". Unfortunately, whilst in Rome, Reynolds suffered a severe cold which left him partially deaf and, as a result, he began to carry a small ear trumpet with which he is often pictured. From 1753 until the end of his life he lived in London, his talents gaining recognition soon after his arrival in France. Reynolds worked long hours in his studio, rarely taking a holiday. He was both gregarious and keenly intellectual, with a great number of friends from London's intelligentsia, numbered amongst whom were Dr Samuel Johnson, Oliver Goldsmith, Edmund Burke, Giuseppe Baretti, Henry Thrale, David Garrick and fellow artist Angelica Kauffmann. 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 first brought together the famous figures of "The" Club. With his rival Thomas Gainsborough, Reynolds was the dominant English portraitist of 'the Age of Johnson'. It is said that in his long life he painted as many as three thousand portraits. In 1789 he lost the sight of his left eye, which finally forced him into retirement. In 1791 James Boswell dedicated his Life of Samuel Johnson to Reynolds. Reynolds died on 23 February 1792 in his house in Leicester Fields, London. He is buried in St. Paul's Cathedral.  Related Paintings of Sir Joshua Reynolds :. | Portrait of Jane Fleming, Countess of Harrington wife of Charles Stanhope, 3rd Earl of Harrington | Portrait of John Stuart, 3rd Earl of Bute | Portrait of 2nd Marquess of Rockingham | portrait, possibly of william, fifth lord byron | Mrs John Hale |
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Frederick Smallfield
British Painter and Etcher , (1829-1911)
James Ward
English Romantic Painter, 1769-1859 English painter and engraver. He was the most important animal painter of his generation. Many of his dynamic compositions depict horses, dogs or wild animals in agitated emotional states, the sense of movement being reinforced by vigorous brushwork and strong colours. With their sweeping landscapes and dramatic skies, his canvases epitomize Romanticism. Not content to excel merely as an animal painter, Ward also produced portraits, landscapes and genre and history paintings of varying quality.
Jose del Castillo
1737-1793 Spanish Jose del Castillo Location a Spanish painter and a leader of the artistic movement Illustrious Absolutism. Many of his paintings were done on tapestries. Castillo made many attempts to become Royal Painter for the Spanish monarchy, but he was never successful. This was not due to a lack of talent, but rather because Castillo allied himself with the wrong noble. His patron, the Earl of Floridablanca, feuded bitterly with the Earl of Aranda. The Earl of Aranda was favored by King Carlos III, and as a result, Ram??n Bayeu (Aranda favorite painter) became Royal Painter. After Carlos III died, Castillo tried again to become Royal Painter. Unfortunately, the new monarch, Carlos IV, decided to leave the position of Royal Painter vacant.