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The Strawberry Girl
By Sir Joshua Reynolds, P.R.A. (1723-1792)
In the Wallace Collection, London
It seems probable that the fame of Sir Joshua Reynolds will endure more by reason of his famous Discourses addressed annually to the Royal Academy after he became its first President, than of the work which was the cause of his greatness. Owing to his unfortunate habit of experimenting with pigments to discover the secrets of the Old Masters, whose canvases he would sometimes cut up for the purpose, his paintings lack permanence, and already some of them are wrecks and cannot be exhibited to the public.
It has often been laid down as the law that the artist, whether in paint or in words, who works for money and caters for the popular taste sacrifices thereby the richer treasures of his genius. Instances abound in proof of this rule; but it may be said of Sir Joshua Reynolds that he was largely an exception to it. Even if we argue that his work does not attain the supreme height of genius, there is still enough of that elusive quality in it to make his case remarkable.
Sir Joshua Reynolds was perhaps the most popular portrait painter who ever lived. The world of fashion flocked in crowds to his studio, and it is amazing that, with all the claims upon his time, both by his sitters for portraits,and by the work entailed by the preparation of his Discourses on Art, he should still have found leisure for producing such subject pictures as "The Strawberry Girl" or his charming "Heads of Angels," in which he depicts the tender graces of perfect childhood.
"The Strawberry Girl" was exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1773 , and was described by Reynolds himself as "one of the half-dozen original things which no man ever exceeded in his life work."
From the book "Famous Paintings" printed in 1913.
Large files of this public domain print are available at Stock Photos at Songs of Praise
(Firefox users must click again on the large photo to see the very large image.)
Online "Name the Painting"
Sir Joshua Reynolds
ebook by Estelle M. Hurll, read online
Reynolds Biography and Paintings
from Art Renewal
Sir Joshua Reynolds
Tate Collection
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