Joshua Reynolds (RIN ulz) was born in Plympton,
Devonshire in
England. His father, who was the headmaster of the grammar school in
his town, was his teacher.
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When he was twelve he painted a portrait on sailcloth
working with the
paint they used in the shipyard. It was not a great painting, but it did
demonstrate his talent, and his father allowed him to become an
apprentice to an artist.
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He studied with Thomas Hudson in London and became a
better artist than
his teacher. Hudson became jealous and dismissed him as his pupil.
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Reynolds studied the works of different artists in
Italy for three
years and became one of the best portrait painters of his time.
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He knew historical pictures didn't sell well, but
people did like to have pictures of themselves; portraits. By
the time he was 32 years old he had painted 100 portraits for people.
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Thomas Gainsborough was another portrait artist in
England. Both became
famous, but Reynolds profited more from his work than Gainsborough.
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Reynolds was knighted by King George III (the Third)
in 1768 and he became Sir Joshua Reynolds. Later he was made
"painter to the king".
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He enjoyed painting portraits of children. The
featured work on this page, "Age of Innocence" is said to be a
painting of Reynold's grand-niece, Theophilia Gwatkin.
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One day as he was painting a picture of another child
he became blind
in his left eye. He knew his days as an artist would be coming to an
end. Two years later when he died, he was blind.
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