How problematic is Joshua Reynolds? Dean of the “grand style”, founding president of the Royal Academy of Arts and favorite portraitist of the great and the good of the 18th century, Reynolds (1723-92) had many critics over the years, notably the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood. who called him “Sloshua” for his prescriptive manner and insistence on heroic style. But as the 300th anniversary of his birth approaches, the time may be ripe for a fuller reassessment and reassessment of this pioneering figure in British art.
The Box in Plymouth is a gallery that rises to the challenge; it will show around 30 of Reynolds’ photos, including a series of famous self-portraits on loan from Tate, including Young self-portrait (1753-58) and Deaf self-portrait (circa 1775). This element of self-inspection dovetails with the Box’s ability to view Reynolds as a local boy: he was born and raised near Plympton, then a bustling port before the local river silted up.
by Reynolds Portrait of Lady Elizabeth Keppel as bridesmaid (1761) includes an unnamed, unrecorded woman of color Duke of Bedford and Trustees of the Bedford Estates
Exhibition curator Terah Walkup says Reynolds’ ties to the region are a source of “civic pride” which is an important element in the painter’s story; Walkup, however, is much more concerned with using the show as a vehicle to reinterpret and reposition Reynolds’ legacy – as the show’s title Crop Reynolds noted. “We really want to think about how Reynolds is relevant today,” she says. “We look at Reynolds through an intersectional decolonization lens. It’s something we’ve really needed for a while.
“Reynolds is an artist who paints people making decisions that affect hundreds of thousands of people around the world,” says Walkup. “We think about questions of identity and the legacies of empire, colonialism and slavery that we live with today.”
Portrait of Lord Peter Ludlow (1755) by Reynolds Woburn Abbey Collection
Reframing the artist seems very much in tune with the times: an exhibition of the same title featuring portraits of local landed gentry has already opened at Harewood House in Yorkshire (until August 28), with which Walkup says that the Box has an excellent collegial relationship. Meanwhile, the National Portrait Gallery in London recently partnered with the J. Paul Getty Museum in California. acquire by Reynolds Portrait of Mai (Omai) (circa 1776) for £50 million, a famous photo said to be of the first Polynesian man to visit Britain.
The Box will also feature three works by Rana Begum created in response to Reynolds’ portraits; this, says Walkup, is designed to show “how contemporary art can open up different questions about our collections, about Reynolds and about the past”.
by Reynolds Portrait of Lady Ann Bonfoy (circa 1754) © The Box, Plymouth
In terms of reinterpreting Reynolds’ own works, Walkup points to something like the color of dresses he might paint: 18th-century viewers would understand the difference between pastel-dyed light blue fabrics and darker indigo blue. The former was a traditional dye of local origin, while indigo came from India, the product of colonial trade. This, says Walkup, is one of the things that connects “the people who are sitting in the portraits with what’s going on right now, thinking about identity and how the portrait is power.”
Likewise, Walkup says the show intends to examine Reynolds “through a feminist lens.” It means shining a light on the stories of the women who played key roles in his career, including his sister Mary, who paid for his trips to Italy as a young man and is pictured in the box show with the portrait of She of 1746 by Reynolds. It also means re-examining some of its sitters: Walkup says she is particularly interested in the Tate’s 1761 portrait of Lady Janet Anstruther, a society beauty believed to be of Roma ancestry, which was loaned to the Box for the show. “It can allow us to have conversations about something you might not expect to have a conversation about.”
• Reframing Reynolds: A CelebrationThe Box, Plymouth, June 24-October 29
