Sir Joshua Reynolds “dominated the artistic life of England in his age”, said Melanie McDonagh in the Evening Standard. As the co-founder and first president of the Royal Academy, Reynolds (1723-1792) held immense power over the country’s art establishment, and was generally “revered” by his fellow painters. Constable, for one, described his work as “the finest feeling of art that ever existed”.
There are some “truly stunning” works of art here, said Jonathan Jones in The Guardian. Unfortunately, though, none of them are by Joshua Reynolds. Gainsborough’s marvellous portrait of Mary, Countess Howe, also on display, eclipses anything by the ostensible star of this show. The trouble is that Reynolds was at best a “minor talent”, a well-connected hack with no imagination. His “idea of creating a great work of art” seemed to be “to dress someone in a splendid costume, place some props behind them and flatly record the scene”. His “Mrs Tollemache as Miranda” is a case in point – a bad picture “of someone who clearly can’t act, attempting a Shakespearean role”. Indeed, even “the best painting” here, a self-portrait “from which he gazes back at you through spectacles” fails to capture any hint of “fire” in his “myopic eyes”. “This man was hired to depress art,” William Blake once complained of Reynolds. Centuries on, he’s “still at it”.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Reynolds has long been out of fashion, said Laura Freeman in The Times. “Dead white man paints assorted aristos, actors and actresses you’ve probably never heard of” dressed up as obscure mythological figures – and the results can be dreadful. A “dim, coquettish” picture of a young shepherdess here, replete with “baalambs and all”, sees him at his “most revoltingly fey and sentimental”. His “fancy pictures”, depicting “precocious cherub children playing at allegories”, are “emetically cute”. Yet he can “still dazzle”. His portrait of the 11-year-old Lady Mary Leslie (1764), for instance, is a fine likeness. A Rembrandt-style painting of Catherine Moore (1752) is “a perfect illustration of how a homely looking woman” can be “lent mystery” by the shadow of a bonnet. This selection of paintings might not be “the cream of Reynolds”, but it makes for “a nice, tight exhibition”.
Kenwood House, London NW3 (0370-333 1181, english-heritage.org.uk). Until 19 November
-
Who were the ‘weekend snipers’ of Sarajevo?Under the Radar Italian authorities launch investigation into allegations far-right gun enthusiasts paid to travel to Bosnian capital and shoot civilians ‘for fun’ during the four-year siege
-
A free speech debate is raging over sign language at the White HouseTalking Points The administration has been accused of excluding deaf Americans from press briefings
-
Glinda vs. Elphaba, Jennifer Lawrence vs. postpartum depression and wilderness vs. progress in November moviesthe week recommends This month’s new releases include ‘Wicked: For Good,’ ‘Die My Love’ and ‘Train Dreams’
-
‘Paper Girl: A Memoir of Home and Family in a Fractured America’ and ‘Unabridged: The Thrill of (and Threat to) the Modern Dictionary’feature The culture divide in small-town Ohio and how the internet usurped dictionaries
-
6 homes with fall foliagefeature An autumnal orange Craftsman, a renovated Greek Revival church and an estate with an orchard
-
Bugonia: ‘deranged, extreme and explosively enjoyable’Talking Point Yorgos Lanthimos’ film stars Emma Stone as a CEO who is kidnapped and accused of being an alien
-
The Revolutionists: a ‘superb and monumental’ bookThe Week Recommends Jason Burke ‘epic’ account of the plane hijackings and kidnappings carried out by extremists in the 1970s
-
Film reviews: ‘Bugonia,’ ‘The Mastermind’ and ‘Nouvelle Vague’feature A kidnapped CEO might only appear to be human, an amateurish art heist goes sideways, and Jean-Luc Godard’s ‘Breathless’ gets a lively homage
-
Book reviews: ‘Against the Machine: On the Unmaking of Humanity’ and ‘Nobody’s Girl: A Memoir of Surviving Abuse and Fighting for Justice’feature An examination of humanity in the face of “the Machine” and a posthumous memoir from one of Jeffrey Epstein’s victims, who recently died by suicide
-
The dazzling coral gardens of Raja AmpatThe Week Recommends Region of Indonesia is home to perhaps the planet’s most photogenic archipelago
-
Salted caramel and chocolate tart recipeThe Week Recommends Delicious dessert can be made with any biscuits you fancy
