Sir Joshua Reynolds

A Journey to Flanders and Holland in the year 1781, first published in 1797 in the Works of Sir Joshua Reynolds, is Reynolds's perceptive account of the pictures which he saw in the Austrian Netherlands, the United Provinces and the Rhineland in 1781. The Journey is here published separately for the first time, in a new edition which is also the first to include explanatory notes on the pictures mentioned by Reynolds and to illustrate all those which he discussed in any depth. Harry Mount provides an introduction which sets the Journey in its context and draws on unpublished material from Reynolds's notebooks to give insights into his critical procedures. All in all, this edition of the Journey makes an important contribution both to the history of the reception of Netherlandish art and to our understanding of the development of art theory and criticism in eighteenth-century England.

Sir Joshua Reynolds laid down principles of art from the point of view of a man of genius who had made his power felt, and with the clear good sense which is the foundation of all work that looks upward and may hope to live. The truths here expressed concerning Art may, with slight adjustment of the way of thought, be applied to Literature or to any exercise of the best powers of mind for shaping the delights that raise us to the larger sense of life. In his separation of the utterance of whole truths from insistance upon accidents of detail, Reynolds was right, because he guarded the expression of his view with careful definitions of its limits. In the same way Boileau was right, as a critic of Literature, in demanding everywhere good sense, in condemning the paste brilliants of a style then in decay, and fixing attention upon the masterly simplicity of Roman poets in the time of Augustus. Critics by rule of thumb reduced the principles clearly defined by Boileau to a dull convention, against which there came in course of time a strong reaction. In like manner the teaching of Reynolds was applied by dull men to much vague and conventional generalisation in the name of dignity. Nevertheless, Reynolds taught essential truths of Art. The principles laid down by him will never fail to give strength to the right artist, or true guidance towards the appreciation of good art, though here and there we may not wholly assent to some passing application of them, where the difference may be great between a fashion of thought in his time and in ours. A righteous enforcement of exact truth in our day has led many into a readiness to appreciate more really the minute imitation of a satin dress, or a red herring, than the noblest figure in the best of Raffaelle's cartoons. Much good should come of the diffusion of this wise little book.

This catalogue provides a fresh prospective on Joshua Reynolds, focusing on his innovative, often highly experimental approaches to the practice and materials of painting.

"Joshua Reynolds: The Creation of Celebrity examines Reynolds in the social, political and cultural context of a century that cultivated a very modern notion of fame. This new approach to Reynolds considers his life and career in terms of a conscious quest for celebrity. --BOOK JACKET.

Wiser than a god Miss Witherwell's mistake A shameful affair Doctor Chevalier's lie Boulôt and Boulotte Old Aunt Peggy Miss McEnders A visit to Avoyelles Ma'ame Pélagie [Désirée's Baby]Madame Célestin's divorce A lady of Bayou St. John La belle Zoraïde In Sabine A respctable woman [The Story of an Hour]Lilacs Regret The kiss Athénaïse Two summers and two souls Two portraits Fedora [A Pair of Silk Stockings]Aunt Lympy's interference A family affair At the 'Cadian ball The storm : a sequel to "At the 'Cadian ball" Charlie :