Anyone with even a cursory interest in art history knows Reynolds was a famous portraitist and an important man in Georgian England. He founded the Royal Academy, knew everyone who mattered, was exceedingly popular and very rich. But it's that very popularity which allows us to ignore him. His paintings seem to be in every English country house, his statue stands over us in the RA courtyard, his portraits of the great and the good illustrate history books. He's become 18th century wallpaper.
Joshua Reynolds: Experiments in Paint focuses on the innovation of his technique. It's a small show, with only about 20 paintings in two rooms, but it makes its points brilliantly.
Reynolds was the first portraitist to get his subjects moving, painting them in action shots. Soldiers on the battlefield, actresses on stage in their best roles and here, the young painter himself. Palette in right hand, left raised to shield his eyes as he stares out at you, he's cleverly turned the tables so that the viewer becomes the sitter.
When he painted people more than once, he made sure the second portrait looked nothing like the first. That's illustrated here by two takes on the courtesan Kitty Fisher, hanging together for the first time ever to allow you to compare and contrast.
Much of this innovation was, no doubt, driven by marketing. Reynolds was working in a competitive market and wanted to stand out. In the crowded group hangs that characterised the art shows of his day, his creative compositions would have ensured that. Keenly attuned to modern fashions, he made sure he showed his subjects at the height of current trends. There's a fascinating pair of portraits of sisters here, in which x-rays revealed he re-painted the hair of the canvass he did first to ensure that both ladies appeared with a current coif when the pair was complete.
Most of the paintings have x-rays displayed beside them, and it's fascinating to see the choices and changes Reynolds made. A neckline lowered here, an arm raised to a pensive pose there, all are carefully considered edits to get to his final result.
If Reynolds was an innovator with composition, he was a bit of a mad scientist with painting materials, and that's explored here as well. We learn that even at the time he was working, this was an issue, with potential clients worried that his experiments would go wrong. Some did at the time, more did over time. Exemplary disasters are displayed here. Some of those 18th century aristocrats weren't as pale and pasty as you think; the carmine he used for fleshy pinks has faded away. Other problems have plagued an infant John the Baptist who's been so heavily restored over the years all of Reynolds' nuance has been stripped away. It's an insipid, uninspired thing now, giving brilliant insight into how the little touches separate the ordinary from the masterpiece.
The show left me hungry for more. Specifically, for more about Reynolds' relationship with women and their role in the 18th century. His "proper" ladies are gentle and demure, never meeting your eyes as they coyly look down, or thoughtfully contemplate the horizon. The actresses and women of more flexible morality stare frankly out of their frames. In portraits like the extraordinary one of Mrs. Abington displayed here (on the far left of my photo above), Reynolds makes it obvious that these were fascinating, compelling women brimming with confidence. Were the aristocrats the same, and unable to show it? Or beaten into submission by social norms?
I know Constable is all the rage right now, but I'm ready for more Reynolds, please.
Joshua Reynolds: Experiments in Paint is on at The Wallace Collection, Manchester Square, until 7 June. It's free, and open until 9pm on Fridays. There's an elegant cafe in the building's glassed courtyard if you want to combine culture with dining.
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