Joshua Reynolds: The Creation of Celebrity
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Joshua Reynolds: The Creation of Celebrity examines one of England's greatest portrait painters in the social, political, and cultural context of a century that cultivated a very modern notion of fame. This new approach to Reynolds (1723-1792) considers his life and career in terms of a conscious quest for celebrity. Reynolds surrounded himself with the most famous men and women of his time. His portraits served to create, reinforce, and advertise not only his subjects' reputations but also his own. It is, therefore, no surprise that Reynolds made no fewer than 27 self-portraits in which he purposefully perpetuated his well-crafted public image as an artist, an academic, and a knight.
Published to accompany a major Tate exhibition, this book features many of Reynolds's most famous and beautiful portraits. Sections consider the friendships Reynolds cultivated with the famous and infamous figures of his time, among them politicians, courtesans, writers, war heroes, and aristocrats. These flamboyant and influential subjects helped to promote and sustain Reynolds's distinguished career and, ultimately, to secure his enduring popularity with audiences today. AUTHOR BIO: Mark Hallett is reader in history of art at the University of York. Tim Clayton is a former research fellow at Worcester College, Oxford. Martin Postle is a Tate curator and an authority on the art of Joshua Reynolds. Stella Tillyard is the internationally acclaimed author of The Aristocrats.
Customer Review: Tate Gallery's description (includes no.s of ill.s)
"Joshua Reynolds: The Creation of Celebrity features many of Reynolds's most famous and beautiful portraits. Individual sections consider the friendships Reynolds cultivated with the famous and infamous figures of his time: politicians; courtesans; literary figures; war heroes; and aristocrats. These flamboyant and influential subjects helped to promote and sustain Reynolds's distinguished career and, ultimately, to secure his enduring popularity with audiences today."
296pp, 110 colour and 20 black-and-white illustrations
My view: should be in hardcover!!
