born July 16, 1723, Plympton, Devon, Eng.
died Feb. 23, 1792, London
British portrait painter.
Son of a clergyman-schoolmaster, he was apprenticed to a London portraitist in 1740. His large group portrait The Eliot Family ( 0441; 1746) reveals the influence of Anthony Van Dyck . The impressions he gained during two years in Italy (175052), particularly in Venice, inspired his painting for the rest of his life. He established a portrait studio in London in 1753 and was immediately successful. His early London portraits introduced new vigour into English portraiture. After 1760, with the increasing vogue for Greco-Roman antiquity, his style became increasingly Classical and self-conscious. He was elected the first president of the Royal Academy in 1768. Through his art and teaching, Reynolds led British painting away from the anecdotal pictures of the early 18th century toward the formal rhetoric of continental academic painting. His Discourses Delivered at the Royal Academy (176990), advocating rigorous academic training and study of the Old Masters, ranks among the most important art criticism of the time.