Samuel William Reynolds
Encyclopedia
Mezzotint
Mezzotint is a printmaking process of the intaglio family, technically a drypoint method. It was the first tonal method to be used, enabling half-tones to be produced without using line- or dot-based techniques like hatching, cross-hatching or stipple...
engraver
Engraving
Engraving is the practice of incising a design on to a hard, usually flat surface, by cutting grooves into it. The result may be a decorated object in itself, as when silver, gold, steel, or glass are engraved, or may provide an intaglio printing plate, of copper or another metal, for printing...
, landscape painter and landscape gardener. Reynolds was a popular engraver in both Britain and France and there are over 400 examples of his work in the National Portrait Gallery in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
.
Biography
Reynolds was born on 4 July 1773. His father was the son of a planter in the West Indies, and was himself born there, but, being sent in his youth to England for education, settled here permanently, and married Sarah Hunt. Young Reynolds studied in the schools of the Royal AcademyRoyal Academy
The Royal Academy of Arts is an art institution based in Burlington House on Piccadilly, London. The Royal Academy of Arts has a unique position in being an independent, privately funded institution led by eminent artists and architects whose purpose is to promote the creation, enjoyment and...
, and under William Hodges
William Hodges
William Hodges RA was an English painter. He was a member of James Cook's second voyage to the Pacific Ocean, and is best known for the sketches and paintings of locations he visited on that voyage, including Table Bay, Tahiti, Easter Island, and the Antarctic.Hodges was born in London. He was a...
, R.A., and was taught mezzotint engraving by John Raphael Smith
John Raphael Smith
John Raphael Smith was an English painter and mezzotint engraver, son of Thomas Smith of Derby, the landscape painter, and father of John Rubens Smith, a painter who emigrated to the United States.-Biography:...
.
In 1797 he engraved a plate of "The Relief of Prince Adolphus and Marshal Freytag" after Mather Brown
Mather Brown
Mather Brown was a portrait and historical painter, born in Boston, Massachusetts, but active in England....
, which shows a complete mastery of the art, and during the next twenty years produced many fine works, including "The Vulture and Lamb", "The Falconer", "Leopards", "Vulture and Snake", and "Heron and Spaniel", all after James Northcote
James Northcote
James Northcote RA , was an English painter.-Biography:He was born at Plymouth, and was apprenticed to his father, a poor watchmaker. In his spare time, he drew and painted. In 1769 he left his father and set up as a portrait painter. Four years later he went to London and was admitted as a pupil...
; ‘A Land Storm,’ after George Morland
George Morland
George Morland was an English painter of animals and rustic scenes.-Life:Morland was born in London, the 3rd son of Henry Robert Morland , artist, engraver and picture restorer...
; portraits of Sir Joshua Reynolds
Joshua Reynolds
Sir Joshua Reynolds RA FRS FRSA was an influential 18th-century English painter, specialising in portraits and promoting the "Grand Style" in painting which depended on idealization of the imperfect. He was one of the founders and first President of the Royal Academy...
, Sir J. F. Leicester, and Lady Harcourt, after Joshua Reynolds; portraits of Lady Elizabeth Whitbread and the Duchess of Bedford, after John Hoppner
John Hoppner
John Hoppner was an English portrait painter, .-Early life:Hoppner was born in Whitechapel, London, the son of German parents - his mother was one of the German attendants at the royal palace. King George's fatherly interest and patronage of the young boy gave rise to rumours, quite unfounded,...
; ‘The Jew Merchant,’ after Rembrandt; and ‘The Rainbow,’ after Rubens
Rubens
Rubens is often used to refer to Peter Paul Rubens , the Flemish artist.Rubens may also refer to:- People :Family name* Paul Rubens Rubens is often used to refer to Peter Paul Rubens (1577-1640), the Flemish artist.Rubens may also refer to:- People :Family name* Paul Rubens (composer) Rubens is...
.
He also engraved a great number of portraits and compositions by Dance
George Dance the Younger
George Dance the Younger was an English architect and surveyor. The fifth and youngest son of George Dance the Elder, he came from a distinguished family of architects, artists and dramatists...
, Jackson
John Jackson (painter)
John Jackson was an English painter.Jackson was born in Lastingham, Yorkshire, and started his career as an apprentice tailor to his father, who opposed the artistic ambitions of his son...
, William Owen (1769–1825), Stephanoff, Bonington
Richard Parkes Bonington
Richard Parkes Bonington was an English Romantic landscape painter. One of the most influential British artists of his time, the facility of his style was inspired by the old masters, yet was entirely modern in its application.-Life and work:Richard Parkes Bonington was born in the town of Arnold,...
, Sir Robert Ker Porter
Robert Ker Porter
Robert Ker Porter , noted artist, author, diplomat and traveler. Known today for his accounts of his travels in Spain, Portugal and Russia, he also served as the British consul in Venezuela...
, and others, and was one of the artists employed by Turner
J. M. W. Turner
Joseph Mallord William Turner RA was an English Romantic landscape painter, watercolourist and printmaker. Turner was considered a controversial figure in his day, but is now regarded as the artist who elevated landscape painting to an eminence rivalling history painting...
upon his "Liber Studiorum". Reynolds worked with great rapidity, and his plates are executed in a vigorous and masterly style, etching being employed to strengthen the mezzotint with unexampled success.
Early in life Reynolds secured for himself and his family the continuous friendship and patronage of Samuel Whitbread
Samuel Whitbread
Samuel Whitbread was an English politician.- Early life :Whitbread was born in Cardington, Bedfordshire, the son of the brewer Samuel Whitbread. He was educated at Eton College, Christ Church, Oxford and St John's College, Cambridge, after which he embarked on a European 'Grand Tour', visiting...
, and, through his connection with Drury Lane Theatre
Theatre Royal, Drury Lane
The Theatre Royal, Drury Lane is a West End theatre in Covent Garden, in the City of Westminster, a borough of London. The building faces Catherine Street and backs onto Drury Lane. The building standing today is the most recent in a line of four theatres at the same location dating back to 1663,...
, became intimate with Thomas Sheridan and Edmund Kean
Edmund Kean
Edmund Kean was an English actor, regarded in his time as the greatest ever.-Early life:Kean was born in London. His father was probably Edmund Kean, an architect’s clerk, and his mother was an actress, Anne Carey, daughter of the 18th century composer and playwright Henry Carey...
. He frequently visited the theatre to assist the latter in making up his face for the part of Othello
Othello
The Tragedy of Othello, the Moor of Venice is a tragedy by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written in approximately 1603, and based on the Italian short story "Un Capitano Moro" by Cinthio, a disciple of Boccaccio, first published in 1565...
.
He was engaged as drawing-master to the royal princesses, and through them was offered more than one post at court, which he declined, but he accepted the appointment of engraver to the king, although he refused the honour of knighthood. He drew and engraved a remarkable portrait of King George III
George III of the United Kingdom
George III was King of Great Britain and King of Ireland from 25 October 1760 until the union of these two countries on 1 January 1801, after which he was King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland until his death...
(with a beard) in extreme old age, which he published in 1820. Throughout his career he practised oil
Oil painting
Oil painting is the process of painting with pigments that are bound with a medium of drying oil—especially in early modern Europe, linseed oil. Often an oil such as linseed was boiled with a resin such as pine resin or even frankincense; these were called 'varnishes' and were prized for their body...
and watercolour painting, and exhibited landscapes and other subjects at the Royal Academy
Royal Academy
The Royal Academy of Arts is an art institution based in Burlington House on Piccadilly, London. The Royal Academy of Arts has a unique position in being an independent, privately funded institution led by eminent artists and architects whose purpose is to promote the creation, enjoyment and...
and the British Institution
British Institution
The British Institution was a private 19th-century society in London formed to exhibit the works of living and dead artists; it was also known as the Pall Mall Picture Galleries or the British Gallery...
from 1797. His landscapes, which are very original and powerful in treatment, went largely to France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
and Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
at the time, which accounted for his not being so well-known as a painter in this country.
In 1809, Reynolds paid his first visit to Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
, and in 1810 and 1812 exhibited engravings at the Salon
Paris Salon
The Salon , or rarely Paris Salon , beginning in 1725 was the official art exhibition of the Académie des Beaux-Arts in Paris, France. Between 1748–1890 it was the greatest annual or biannual art event in the Western world...
. Between 1820 and 1826 he issued, in four volumes, a series of 357 small but admirable plates of all the then accessible works of Sir Joshua Reynolds, with whom he claimed relationship. Upon the completion of this he revisited Paris, where his work, both in painting and engraving, created much enthusiasm among French artists, several of whom became his pupils. An article, which appeared at the time in ‘L'Artiste,’ describing Reynolds's extraordinary talents, is quoted by Beraldi
Henri Béraldi
Henri Béraldi was a French bibliophile, publisher and author of books on the Pyrenees and on engravers....
(Les Graveurs du XIXe Siècle - Engravers of the 18th century).
Reynolds executed a considerable number of plates in France, including ‘The Raft of the Medusa,’ after Géricault
Théodore Géricault
Jean-Louis André Théodore Géricault was a profoundly influential French artist, painter and lithographer, known for The Raft of the Medusa and other paintings...
; ‘La Bonne Fille,’ after Haudebourt-Lescot
Hortense Haudebourt-Lescot
Antoinette-Cécile-Hortense Haudebourt-Lescot was a French painter, mainly of genre scenes. A native of Paris, she began studies with Guillaume Lethière, a popular history painter and family friend, at the age of seven; when he was appointed director of the French Academy in Rome in 1807, she...
; ‘The Massacre of the Innocents,’ after Leon Cogniet
Léon Cogniet
Léon Cogniet was a French historical and portrait painter.- Biography :Cogniet was born in Paris. In 1812, he entered the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris, where he studied under Pierre-Narcisse Guérin at the same time as Delacroix and Géricault. In 1817 he won the Prix de Rome and was a resident at...
; ‘Mazeppa,’ after Horace Vernet
Horace Vernet
Émile Jean-Horace Vernet was a French painter of battles, portraits, and Orientalist Arab subjects.Vernet was born to Carle Vernet, another famous painter, who was himself a son of Claude Joseph Vernet. He was born in the Paris Louvre, while his parents were staying there during the French...
; a few fancy subjects after Dubufe; and some clever studies after Charlet
Nicolas Toussaint Charlet
Nicolas Toussaint Charlet , French designer and painter, more especially of military subjects, was born in Paris....
. Several of these were exhibited at the Salon in 1827.
Reynolds commenced a large plate from John Constable
John Constable
John Constable was an English Romantic painter. Born in Suffolk, he is known principally for his landscape paintings of Dedham Vale, the area surrounding his home—now known as "Constable Country"—which he invested with an intensity of affection...
's picture "The Lock", which he did not live to complete; a letter from him, in praise of the original, is printed in Leslie's ‘Life of Constable’. Reynolds had many pupils, the ablest of whom were Samuel Cousins
Samuel Cousins
Samuel Cousins was an English mezzotint engraver, born at Exeter.He was preeminently the interpreter of Sir Thomas Lawrence, his contemporary. During his apprenticeship to S. W. Reynolds he engraved many of the best amongst the three hundred and sixty little mezzotints illustrating the works of...
, David Lucas
David Lucas
David Lucas is the name of:* David Lucas , American rock and roll producer and jingle writer* David Lucas , English cricketer who plays for Worcestershire* David Lucas , English footballer...
, and John Lucas (1807–1874). He was also a skilful landscape-gardener, and laid out the grounds of Southall and Mount Edgcumbe
Mount Edgcumbe House
Mount Edgcumbe House is a stately home in south-east Cornwall. It is a Grade II listed building and the gardens are listed as Grade I in the Register of Parks and Gardens of Special Historic Interest in England....
.
He died of paralysis at Ivy Cottage, Bayswater
Bayswater
Bayswater is an area of west London in the City of Westminster and the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea to the west . It is a built-up district located 3 miles west-north-west of Charing Cross, bordering the north of Hyde Park over Kensington Gardens and having a population density of...
, London where he had long resided, on 13 August 1835. His collections, which consisted chiefly of his own drawings and engravings, were dispersed at Christie's
Christie's
Christie's is an art business and a fine arts auction house.- History :The official company literature states that founder James Christie conducted the first sale in London, England, on 5 December 1766, and the earliest auction catalogue the company retains is from December 1766...
in the following April. By his wife, Jane Cowen, to whom he was married in 1793, and who survived him some years, enjoying an annuity from the Whitbread family, Reynolds had two sons and three daughters.
His elder son of the same name, Samuel William Reynolds Jr. (1794–1872), was also a noted mezzotint engraver and landscape painter. Of his daughters, Elizabeth, an able miniaturist
Portrait miniature
A portrait miniature is a miniature portrait painting, usually executed in gouache, watercolour, or enamel.Portrait miniatures began to flourish in 16th century Europe and the art was practiced during the 17th century and 18th century...
, married engraver William Walker
William Walker (engraver born 1791)
William Walker was a Scottish engraver. He is known for engravings of Sir Henry Raeburn's portraits of Sir Walter Scott and Raeburn himself, Sir Thomas Lawrence's portrait of Lord Broughham , and Alexander Nasmyth's portrait of Robert Burns.- Biography :Walker was born on 1 August 1791 at Markton,...
(1791–1877), and Frances exhibited miniatures at the Royal Academy (1828–1830).
A small portrait of Reynolds, etched by Edward Bell, was published by A. E. Evans in 1855. Another portrait was painted by his friend Ary Scheffer
Ary Scheffer
Ary Scheffer , French painter of Dutch and German extraction, was born in Dordrecht.-Life:After the early death of his father Johann Baptist, a poor painter, Ary's mother Cornelia, herself a painter and daughter of landscapist Arie Lamme, took him to Paris and placed him in the studio of...
. In a humorous watercolour drawing by A. E. Chalon
Alfred Edward Chalon
Alfred Edward Chalon was a Swiss portrait painter. He lived in London where he was noticed by Queen Victoria.- Biography :...
, representing artists at work in the gallery of the British Institution in 1805, Reynolds, seated at his easel, is a prominent figure. There is a fine portrait of Mrs. Reynolds, painted by John Opie
John Opie
John Opie was an English historical and portrait painter. He painted many great men and women of his day, most notably in the artistic and literary professions.-Life and work:...
.
External links
- Engraved portraits by S W Reynolds (National Portrait Gallery, London)